SAN ANTONIO – Brackenridge Park is celebrating 125 years of operations.
Founded in 1899 by George W. Brackenridge, the park has expanded from 199 acres to a 400-acre site, now an important natural area in San Antonio.
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To honor its founding, the Brackenridge Park Conservancy will host “The Big Brack Bash! 125th Celebration” event on Nov. 16.
San Antonio residents are invited for a day that celebrates decades of the park’s history. The festivities will feature vintage cars, pony rides, pet donkeys, live music, food, drinks and more.
The fun begins at 10 a.m. and continues until 5:30 p.m. on the east side of the river by the Lambert Beach Baseball Field.
Admission to the event is free, but tickets will be available for certain activities, food and drinks.
Brackenridge Park’s history dates back thousands of years before its official founding.
Pre-Historic era:
- Water is perhaps the park’s most compelling story. The San Antonio River is formed by springs in the park and to the north of the University of Incarnate Word. The river would run for thousands of years until drought slowly dried the springs.
- Archaeological investigations reveal evidence of human presence dating back at least 21,000 years into the late Paleoindian era.
1600s:
- 1691: Spanish soldiers and priests arrived at the nearby Payaya Indian village named Yanaguana. They called this area San Antonio de Padua. This name was given to the river as well.
1700s:
- 1718: The first permanent settlement is established. It was made up of Mission San Antonio de Valero and Villa de Bexar.
- 1719: The Alamo acequia began. An acequia is another word for irrigation ditch. The source of the acequia was the San Antonio River. It served to raise and direct the flow of water toward the eastern bank to a canal intake. It would remain in use until 1912.
- 1731: A permanent municipality was founded south of the park at the site of today’s Main Plaza.
1800s:
- 1864: the Confederate government purchased a 75-acre tract of land west of the river to build a tannery and sawmill. These were built to help divert water to a power facility. It would produce 15,000 hides annually with the capacity of 3,000 feet of lumber daily. The tannery, which is unknown to most San Antonians, is one of the park’s most important undocumented features.
- 1869: George W. Brackenridge purchased the land surrounding the river’s headwaters.
- 1877: Brackenridge purchases 200 acres on the east side of the river. This property would become a major portion of the park we know today.
- 1883: Brackenridge acquired the water supply system. He recapitalized the company and expanded it.
1900s:
- 1920: Brackenridge passes away at the age of 88.
Now:
- Brackenridge Park remains nearly unchanged since the 1940s.
All information provided in this article is courtesy of the Brackenridge Park Conservancy which was established in 2008.