Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2009 > April > 22 > Entry
Your A-List: Best Place to Feel Like a Kid
In a town with an adult populous that prides itself on feeling/staying young, it is no surprise that there were quite a few places receiving loads of votes this week. But in the end, there can only be one winner, and Austin’s beloved Barton Springs takes the honor, narrowly edging out Peter Pan Putt Putt, chain Dave and Buster’s and the eclectic Toy Joy.
Barton Springs, which received 18 percent of the votes in the poll, is almost always named by Austinites as a place out-of-towners should visit. In the era of high-rise condos and urban development, it is an oasis in the heart of the city that represents and transports us to a more quaint time, when the city felt a little more rural and a little less urban. For only $3 a day, you can go relax in the sun (or shade), chat with friends, practice yoga, read a book, listen to locals play music or watch them practice capoeira to your heart’s content. I do take a slight exception with the high price of the summer pass ($180 for 105 days) and the fact that the “south” gate is not open more hours during the weekdays, but I came here to praise Barton Springs, not to nitpick it.
And, since the City of Austin can promote their beloved crown jewel better than I, here is what it has to say on the city’s Web site:
Within Zilker Park’s 358 acres, lies one of the crown jewels of Austin, Barton Springs Pool. Three acres in size, the pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited topless sunbathers who turned heads in the seventies. Even Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting his mother’s relative in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people.Millions of years ago Barton Springs, the fourth largest natural springs in the state, was created as a result of a landshift that created the Balcones Fault.
Named in honor of Andrew Jackson Zilker. “Colonel Andy”, as friends called him, donated the land now known as Zilker Park. In 1884, at age 18, Zilker, who had left his native Indiana to seek his fortune, came to Austin with only 50 cents in his pocket and got a job at an ice plant, which he eventually bought. He then became the first Coca-Cola Bottler in Austin. Shortly after Zilker bought the land in 1901, he built a small concrete pool and amphitheater for members of his Elks Club organization, at the site of one of the three springs, where people had gathered for centuries.Native Americans called them the Sacred Springs and came there to heal their wounds. Spanish friars believed to be the first European settlers in the Austin area set up three temporary missions at the springs in 1730-31 before they moved to San Antonio. In 1837, William “Uncle Billy” Barton, built his rustic cabin on a tract of land which included the springs. Since he owned several adjoining tracts, the area came to be known as the “Bartons”. He named the three springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. The largest spring became known as the main spring at Barton Springs Pool. Another spring feeds the Elks Amphitheater pool that Zilker built near the present day Barton Springs Pool. A third spring bubbles up from the Sunken Garden on the east side of the park.
Between 1917 and 1934, A.J. Zilker donated his land along the south bank of the Colorado in stages, to the Public Free Schools of Austin on the condition that the city of Austin buy the tract from the public schools for inflated prices. School officials placed money from the sale in a trust fund for manual training for what is known today as the school-to-work-program.
Barton Springs Pool has been a popular swimming hole for decades, but even more people showed up once it became part of a city park in 1917. In 1929, workers enlarged the irregular-shaped pool to 1,000 feet long by building a concrete lower dam and sidewalks on both banks. In 1932, the city added an upper dam. Over the years the springs has been the site of a flour mill, a source of drinking water for many citizens and a popular location for baptisms, family picnics, social gatherings, musical performances, fishing and swimming.
Many approach a dip in Barton Springs Pool’s chilly 68 degrees water with a religious zeal. Devotees relish swimming in the roomy expanse of spring water, framed by century-old pecan trees. Those who plunge down under the diving board to look at the main spring, which pumps an average of 27 million gallons of water a day, say that the pulsating action reminds them of a steady heartbeat.
In 1943, Jean Parker was the first women lifeguard at Barton Springs. Members of the Texas Pool and Beach Association decided at the conclusion of their annual conference of park and recreation authorities to allow women to lifeguard, because most eligible men had entered the armed forces. This was the beginning of the change from the traditional “big husky lifeguards watching over the flocks to beautiful girls gracing the lifeguard towers over the nations pools.”
Beverly Sheffield, who served as director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department from 1946-1973, swam at Barton Springs for 73 years, longer than any of today’s regular swimmers. He began when he was 10 years old and on into his 80s, Sheffield continued to go the pool three days a week, weather permitting until his death.
In 1992, 2 University of Texas scientists, filed an emergency petition seeking federal protection of the Barton Springs salamander. Zoologist, Mark Kirkpatrick and his geologist wife, Barbara Mahler, prepared the petition under auspices of the Save Barton Creek Association and The Hill Country Foundation. This petition was filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, which has authority to list wildlife under the federal Endangered Species Act. In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service named the Barton Springs salamander as an Endangered Species.
The only known surface habitats of the Barton Springs salamander (Eurycea sosorum) are located in Barton Springs pool, Eliza Springs, Old Mill Springs (Sunken Garden) and Upper Barton Springs. The salamander is lungless and relies on a pair of conspicuous red gills located behind the head for effiecient gas exchange. Currently the City of Austin and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working together to support operation of the pool while protecting this species.
Others receiving votes
- Peter Pan Putt Putt, 17 percent
- Dave and Buster’s, 16 percent
- Toy Joy, 16 percent
- Terra Toys, 7 percent
- Main Event, 6 percent
- Austin’s Park and Pizza, 6 percent
- Lake Travis, 5 percent
- Blazer Tag, 4 percent
- Skateland, 3 percent
- GattiTown, 2 percent
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