Historic Beginnings
As one of Texas’ first public parks, Pease Park has a rich and storied history. Native Americans inhabited the area for thousands of years until the population of Austin grew and frontiersmen began to venture out of the central city.
In the winter of 1865-1866, General George Armstrong Custer and two troops of Union Cavalry camped at the banks of Shoal Creek in what is now Pease Park. They were sent to Texas under the Congressional Reconstruction Plan to “put down” post-Civil War robbery and unrest. During their encampment a cholera epidemic swept through the camp killing an estimated 40 men. These soldiers were buried at the west side of Pease Park only to be disinterred by a flood in 1900.
In 1875, Governor and Mrs. E.M. Pease deeded this land, which had become part of their plantation, to the citizens of Austin for use as a public park. Guided by their New England roots, it is believed Frederick Law Olmstead and his work designing New York’s Central Park inspired the Pease family to make this gift. A progressive minded individual, Governor Pease believed in the importance of public parkland to growing cities and he wanted his adopted city of Austin to have public amenities similar to those of the developed cities of the Northeast.
Little was done to make the parkland usable for the next 51 years, until the Austin Kiwanis Club came along in the 1920s. The Club committed to beautifying the park and raised private funds to add basic facilities and amenities we still enjoy today. Niles and Marshall Graham, Governor Pease’s grandsons, donated funds to construct the stone Memorial Gates at the south end of the Park in 1926.
The 1930’s also brought improvements to Pease Park. As a response to the Great Depression, Roosevelt’s New Deal helped commission the West 24th and West 29th Street Bridge expansion and construction. Through the WPA, the CCC also constructed bridges at Shoal Creek Boulevard, stone culverts along the creek, various stone walls, and concrete picnic tables throughout the park.
In 1960, Janet Long Fish, daughter of Austin community leader Walter E. Long, had the vision that a recreational hiking path along an old Comanche trail near Shoal Creek would provide additional access to Pease Park. She used her own money, time, and effort to get much of the Shoal Creek Trail built and helped negotiate the right-of-way with some hesitant landowners. Today the Shoal Creek Trail is one of Austin’s most used and adored public amenities.
Park Conservation
The Austin Parks & Recreation Department has had the responsibility of maintaining Pease Park and the Shoal Creek Trail over the years. Other private groups have stepped in to help during times of difficult budget decisions. The Junior League funded way-finding signage and historical markers while the Old Enfield Neighborhood Association planted trees and advocated for the park’s development.
In 2007, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center published an ecological study of Pease Park that concluded that its ecosystem was in a “state of collapse” and “could not recover on its own”. This was a call for action that led directly to the creation of Trees for Pease (later Pease Park Conservancy).
Determined not to again let Pease Park fall into ruins, Pease Park Conservancy (PPC) was established in 2008.
Pease Park Today
Currently, Pease Park is a 43-acre district park in the heart of central Austin. The park runs along the banks of Shoal Creek and Lamar Boulevard from West 15th Street to West 24th Street, though the Master Plan was extended all the way to 31st Street (88-acres). Pease Park connects the city and its neighborhoods, a treasured open space for all Austinites to enjoy.