Last updated: August 30, 2024
Place
Parque Zaragoza
Photograph by Gregory Smith, courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission
Quick Facts
Location:
2608 Gonzales St., Austin, Texas
Significance:
Entertainment/Recreation, Ethnic Heritage - Hispanic (Mexican), Social History
Designation:
Listed in the National Register - Reference number 100007750
MANAGED BY:
Parque Zaragoza is located in Austin, Texas. Since 1931, Parque Zaragoza has served as a gathering place for Mexican American Austinites to celebrate their cultural heritage, honor their civic accomplishments, and educate younger generations on the importance of cultural identity and community involvement.
East Austin’s Mexican and Mexican American communities grew steadily in the first decades of the twentieth century, a result of increased immigration, rising discrimination in other parts of the city, and displacement from the “Old Mexico” neighborhood in Austin. Racial tension escalated around the time of World War I, precipitating changes that physically and ideologically distanced East Austin’s neighborhoods from downtown and from white enclaves to the west. By the end of the 1920s, white Austinites had begun to voice dissatisfaction with the population boom, and citizens of color faced discrimination daily.
New Deal housing policies encouraged private covenants and deed restrictions to safeguard “good neighborhoods,” reinforcing the prejudiced practices already employed by white real estate sellers in Austin. The federal government established the Housing and Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1933 to help homeowners avoid foreclosure during the Great Depression via low-interest mortgages. However, HOLC’s redlining policies—discriminatory classifications that equated lender risk with minority populations—made it harder or impossible to obtain mortgage insurance in neighborhoods with nonwhite residents.
Since East Austin residents could not depend upon the city to provide adequate public services, they looked to their neighbors for support. Enterprising Austinites of the post-World War II era strengthened already prominent nongovernmental institutions, from churches to political organizations to businesses. Communities of color all over the nation drew from strong traditions of grassroots activism to effect change in their cities, and their efforts resulted in policy changes that laid the groundwork for correcting inequities in municipal services and facilities in the decades to come.
The 1928 Koch and Fowler city plan recommended allocating funding to public amenities, including parkland, as part of its strategy for segregating African American residents in East Austin. Rosewood Park, a segregated park for African Americans between Rosewood Avenue and E. 12th Street, opened soon after the plan’s adoption. Mexican Americans had been migrating to East Austin throughout the decade, but still had limited access to dedicated public space adequate for large outdoor gatherings. Intensive lobbying by cultural advocacy groups, and community members, businesses, and affiliated organizations, finally convinced the city’s new Recreation Department to purchase a plot of land for a new segregated Mexican American park in East Austin in 1930.
On April 23, 1931, W. S. Benson sold 9.27 acres on Pedernales Street to the city for $5,250. Parque Zaragoza—known as Zaragosa Park in early publications—opened later that year. Its name honored Mexican general Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin, who led his army to victory against French invaders at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a federal public works program active between 1933 and 1942, offered construction and maintenance jobs to the unemployed. In Texas, the CCC was instrumental in establishing and expanding state parks and their facilities, creating a network of accessible natural sites. Parque Zaragoza’s rustic bathhouse, though modest in scale, clearly exhibits CCC-influenced design choices. The 1941 bathhouse, historically the only enclosed structure in the park, was constructed by community volunteers and laborers from the National Youth Administration, a CCC affiliate under the Works Progress Administration. Like the CCC, the NYA in Texas focused on projects with clear public benefits and connections to the outdoors: maintenance and development of highways, schools, and parks.
Throughout the years, the park has hosted thousands of community events. Its central location, nestled within majority-Mexican American neighborhoods and surrounded by schools, businesses, and homes, made it an ideal venue for formal and informal gatherings. From private weddings to political rallies, the park is as ingrained in local families’ histories and city and state legacies alike. For decades, it was the most-used outdoor space for Mexican Americans in segregated Austin; today it serves the entire city as a testament to the strength of their voices in the face of systemic oppression.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.
East Austin’s Mexican and Mexican American communities grew steadily in the first decades of the twentieth century, a result of increased immigration, rising discrimination in other parts of the city, and displacement from the “Old Mexico” neighborhood in Austin. Racial tension escalated around the time of World War I, precipitating changes that physically and ideologically distanced East Austin’s neighborhoods from downtown and from white enclaves to the west. By the end of the 1920s, white Austinites had begun to voice dissatisfaction with the population boom, and citizens of color faced discrimination daily.
New Deal housing policies encouraged private covenants and deed restrictions to safeguard “good neighborhoods,” reinforcing the prejudiced practices already employed by white real estate sellers in Austin. The federal government established the Housing and Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1933 to help homeowners avoid foreclosure during the Great Depression via low-interest mortgages. However, HOLC’s redlining policies—discriminatory classifications that equated lender risk with minority populations—made it harder or impossible to obtain mortgage insurance in neighborhoods with nonwhite residents.
Since East Austin residents could not depend upon the city to provide adequate public services, they looked to their neighbors for support. Enterprising Austinites of the post-World War II era strengthened already prominent nongovernmental institutions, from churches to political organizations to businesses. Communities of color all over the nation drew from strong traditions of grassroots activism to effect change in their cities, and their efforts resulted in policy changes that laid the groundwork for correcting inequities in municipal services and facilities in the decades to come.
The 1928 Koch and Fowler city plan recommended allocating funding to public amenities, including parkland, as part of its strategy for segregating African American residents in East Austin. Rosewood Park, a segregated park for African Americans between Rosewood Avenue and E. 12th Street, opened soon after the plan’s adoption. Mexican Americans had been migrating to East Austin throughout the decade, but still had limited access to dedicated public space adequate for large outdoor gatherings. Intensive lobbying by cultural advocacy groups, and community members, businesses, and affiliated organizations, finally convinced the city’s new Recreation Department to purchase a plot of land for a new segregated Mexican American park in East Austin in 1930.
On April 23, 1931, W. S. Benson sold 9.27 acres on Pedernales Street to the city for $5,250. Parque Zaragoza—known as Zaragosa Park in early publications—opened later that year. Its name honored Mexican general Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin, who led his army to victory against French invaders at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a federal public works program active between 1933 and 1942, offered construction and maintenance jobs to the unemployed. In Texas, the CCC was instrumental in establishing and expanding state parks and their facilities, creating a network of accessible natural sites. Parque Zaragoza’s rustic bathhouse, though modest in scale, clearly exhibits CCC-influenced design choices. The 1941 bathhouse, historically the only enclosed structure in the park, was constructed by community volunteers and laborers from the National Youth Administration, a CCC affiliate under the Works Progress Administration. Like the CCC, the NYA in Texas focused on projects with clear public benefits and connections to the outdoors: maintenance and development of highways, schools, and parks.
Throughout the years, the park has hosted thousands of community events. Its central location, nestled within majority-Mexican American neighborhoods and surrounded by schools, businesses, and homes, made it an ideal venue for formal and informal gatherings. From private weddings to political rallies, the park is as ingrained in local families’ histories and city and state legacies alike. For decades, it was the most-used outdoor space for Mexican Americans in segregated Austin; today it serves the entire city as a testament to the strength of their voices in the face of systemic oppression.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.