Though its historic significance doesn't receive due attention outside the city, the Rosewood Courts public housing complex in East Austin is the first federal housing project in the nation built for African Americans. Funded by the United States Housing Authority of the New Deal thanks to the famously tireless politicking of then-Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson and ...
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A Pioneering Work of Black Modernism Seeks Historic Status in East Austin
John Saunders Chase, the first black licensed architect in Texas, is responsible for some of the finest examples of midcentury design still standing in East Austin. Chase, who died in 2012, was also one of the first two African-American students to enroll at the University of Texas in 1950 after the Sweatt v. Painter decision by the U.S. Supreme Court desegregated UT at the ...
Here’s How Austin’s Fixing Up Fiesta Gardens, Lakeside Lagoon and All
The City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department kicked off a virtual community engagement process for the rehabilitation of longtime city-owned East Austin event venue Fiesta Gardens earlier this week, a project overseen by preservation-minded local architects Clayton Korte to bring a variety of improvements to the 54-year-old facility that's often rented for weddings, ...
Here’s How Longhorn Dam Is Getting Safer for Cars, Bikes, and Yes, People
After substantial public engagement and a final engineering report issued back in July, the City of Austin's Transportation Department has nailed down its plans for a pedestrian bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake near Longhorn Dam in East Austin -- and as we'd hoped, the "Wishbone" bridge option presented alongside several others last year is the prize pig, ready to enter the ...
East Austin’s Long-Neglected Govalle Park Finally Gets Some Attention
Though its facilities remain closed to the public in the hottest months of summer thanks to the ongoing pandemic, East Austin's renovated Govalle Pool is ready to roll whenever we are -- and with these much-needed and long-awaited upgrades completed earlier this year after breaking ground back in 2018, it's time to extend the same courtesy to the surrounding facilities at ...
Digging Up the Humble Beginnings of Austin-Built Brands Gone National
It would take us years to tally up Austin's near-countless cultural gifts to Texas, not to mention the rest of the country, but a good place to start might be the national businesses that originally found their roots somewhere around here. A lot of the original locations for these companies weren't exactly glamorous, but that's the scrappy startup saga every aspiring ...