From dirt paths to paved highways

history of key avenue -- part 1

Phanton Hill Road -- which connected Austin with Fort Phantom Hill near present-day Abilene was the first established road through what would later become Lampasas County. The fort was abandoned in 1854. This Texas Historical Marker is located on U.S. 190 midway between Lometa and the Colorado River. courtesy photo | jeff jackson
Phanton Hill Road -- which connected Austin with Fort Phantom Hill near present-day Abilene was the first established road through what would later become Lampasas County. The fort was abandoned in 1854. This Texas Historical Marker is located on U.S. 190 midway between Lometa and the Colorado River. courtesy photo | jeff jackson

EDITOR’S NOTE: Lampasas historian Jeff Jackson has researched a number of local history topics. The following is the beginning of a series on Key Avenue and the development of the highways routed through Lampasas County.

There would be no town without streets, alleys, roads and highways. These avenues take people to the places where the history is made.

Small-town history may not interest the people…