Waterloo Park History
The largest green space in downtown Austin, Waterloo Park takes its name from the Waterloo hamlet, a frontier settlement that Austin replaced. It sits in a basin along Waller Creek, encompassing a particularly flood-prone stretch of Austin’s most central, urbanized stream. Though the park was built in 1975 as part of the Brackenridge Urban Renewal Project, its history dates to the end of the US Civil War, when formerly enslaved people began migrating to southern cities in search of work, education, lost family members, and haven from anti-Black violence. Many migrants were skilled farmers and craftsmen and had saved money to purchase land. As a rule, white landowners sold Black people only their “poorest” properties, relegating most Black communities to low-lying and otherwise hazardous spaces.
In the late 1860s, a cluster of flood-prone Black enclaves took shape along lower Waller Creek. Home to Black churches, schools, landowners, and businesses, the enclaves were internally segregated by topography, with their poorest residents living in shantytown communities along Waller Creek’s steep banks. Theses shantytowns passed through what is now Waterloo Park, occupying the area’s most flood-prone stretches. In the 20th century, city planners repeatedly turned to parks to dislodge Austin’s riparian “slums,” using Waterloo Park to displace a recalcitrant Black and brown shanty neighborhood located just east of the state capitol grounds. Given its location, it is easy to assume that the park was designed to mitigate flood hazards. In fact, it was designed to dislocate poor Black and brown people, mitigating “racial” hazards to nearby white property values.
One of my favorite parks in the city so just have a seat and be as stealthy as possible. Happy hunting.