Day Trips: El Camino Real Visitor Center, Goliad

El Camino Real Visitor Center is a hidden gem among a gold mine of historic structures around Goliad.

The one-story sandstone keeper's cottage was the first building constructed when the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in 1936 to reconstruct Mission Espíritu Santo and build the adjacent Goliad State Park.

Architects Samuel Charles Phelps Vosper and Raiford L. Stripling used the cottage that would also be their office during construction of the park as a studio to test methods and designs for the mission reconstruction.

The cottage is small, but holds a number of treasures. Inside the front door is a "log staircase," even though there is no second floor. The alternate steps are smaller than a usual staircase and were used by the Spanish for access in tight spaces like a belfry.

Look closely around the house and notice all the different construction elements: No two doors are alike, as the architects experimented with designs; likewise with the various styles of tiles commissioned from Mexico.

The keeper's cottage only takes a few minutes to go through and reveals some wonderful surprises. There are also displays explaining the area's part of the Camino Real de Tejas from Mexico City to Louisiana.

Stripling had a prolific career as an architect. Straight out of college he worked on buildings at UT and Texas A&M before coming to Goliad. In 1963, he directed the reconstruction of Presidio La Bahía across the river from the mission. He had an architectural firm in San Augustine specializing in historic preservation before he passed away in 1990.

El Camino Real Visitor Center is open free of charge daily from 9am to 4pm. It is a short distance north of the state park on the opposite side of U.S. Highway 183 next to the ballfields.

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1,666th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.