In 1929, the City of Austin purchased the land near the University of Texas known as Wheelers’ Grove. Wheeler’s Grove is known as one of the earliest locations for African Americans in Austin to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating June 19, 1865 when General Gordon Granger made the announcement in Galveston, Texas of President Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery. Americans from all over Central Texas would march through the city ending at Wheeler’s Grove for a full day of festivities. The location was the site of gatherings for African Americans until celebrations began at Emancipation Park, a privately owned park, around 1905.
In March 1929, the City of Austin made the first purchase of land for Eastwoods Park. The section of Eastwoods Park north of Waller Creek, a portion of outlot one and lots six through ten of the Harris Park Addition were purchased from M.H. and Mae Crockett for $20,000. Lot ten of the section of the park located south of Waller Creek was purchased from E.L. Grizzard and lots 22-26 from Martha E. Routt in June of 1929 for a total of $2,400.In 1948, portions of lots 25 and 26 were sold by the City to T.J. Farr, but the City retained the portions that formed the banks of WallerCreek. The park has remained in the 1948 configuration to this day with a total of 9.9 acres.
In 1964, Lloyd W. Birdwell Jr. and several other University of Texas at Austin students began a tradition that has continued to this day. According to Birdwell, he and some of his fraternity brothers were “wooing” girls who were very taken with the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. In the story, one of the characters, Eeyore the donkey, is always sad because no one ever threw him a birthday party. It occurred to the boys to throw the imaginary character a birthday party to try to cheer him up. They chose Eastwoods Park as the location, due to its proximity to the University. The celebration was moved to Pease Park in 1974 because of growth, but other than that, it is very similar to the original party. It now attracts thousands of participants and has become a non-profit fundraiser. It has retained its “hippie atmosphere” and is a staple event in Austin. In a time when Austin is growing extremely rapidly and losing much of its originality, Eeyore’s Birthday Party remains a powerful reminder of the city’s culture. A commemorative statue of Eeyore was placed in Eastwoods in 2007 to mark the birthplace of the celebration.
An important cultural and art feature of the park is a sculpture composed of a wooden tree stump carved in the shape of a wizard’s head. The sculpture was carved by a woodcarver named David Kestenbaum. Kestenbaum works and teaches extensively in Mexico and was commissioned by a local resident in 1990 to design and complete the work.
Eastwoods Park is an invaluable part of Austin’s history, from the celebrations at Wheeler’s Grove, to its development as one of Austin’s first municipal parks, to its long history serving families within the neighborhood surrounding it, to the birthplace of an iconic Austin event. Eastwoods Park was and is an important public space for heritage in Austin.