DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Michael Butler and the Butler Brick Company, out of Travis County. Now, you want to talk about a man who built things to last, we can start right here. Michael Butler was born in 1842 in Limerick, Ireland, and by 1866 he had made his way across the Atlantic to New York City, working as a bricklayer.
He didn't stay put long. Butler was the kind of man who followed the work, and the work took him all over this country until, in 1869, he rolled into Dallas and set up a brick plant right on the Trinity River. For those first few years — 1869 to 1873 — Butler's plant was turning out handmade bricks the old way, sun-dried, one at a time.
Not a glamorous method, but it got the job done. Then in 1873 he sold that Dallas operation to his brother Patrick Butler and pointed himself south toward Austin. He planted his first Austin brick plant at the foot of East Avenue — what you'd know today as IH-35 — right there on the north bank of the Colorado River.
Now, the Colorado River is a beautiful thing, but it is not a polite neighbor. Flooding forced Butler to move, and in 1876 he purchased land and shifted his whole operation to an area roughly bordered by the Colorado River — which we now call Lady Bird Lake — South First Street, present-day Barton Springs Road, and Barton Creek. He dug in there, and those brickyards stayed put until 1958.
That is a long time for anything to hold its ground in Austin. And what came out of those yards? Well.
Between 1873 and 1900, most of Austin's brick structures were made with Butler bricks. You hear that — most of the brick in this city for nearly three decades had this one man's hands behind it, or at least his mules. That's right, he ran a machine powered by mules to force alluvial clay straight out of the ground into wooden molds.
Practical. Efficient. Very Texas.
And then there is this detail, and it lands hard when you really sit with it: the interior of the Texas Capitol is supported by three million bricks from that site. Three million. From that stretch of ground along Barton Creek.
Every time you walk through those halls, you are walking on Michael Butler's work. Butler himself was building more than brickyards. He married Mary Jane Kelly, an Austin native born in 1854, and the two of them made a home he built himself on South Lamar.
Then in 1887, he finished something grander — a stately brick mansion at 11th and Lavaca. Demolished in 1971, the marker notes, which is a sentence that deserves a moment of quiet. Butler kept manufacturing bricks until his death in 1909, when his sons stepped up and took over the Butler Brick Company.
But here is where the story turns from craft to character. In 1941, Butler's family deeded 91 acres of those former brickyards to the city of Austin for civic use — and they did it at a fraction of the land's value. Not full price.
A fraction. That land became Michael Butler Park, and the marker calls it a recognition of craftsmanship and civic pride that aided the development of Austin. A man from Limerick arrives in New York with a trowel and a trade, works his way to Texas, pulls clay out of the ground by mule-power, and ends up holding up the Texas Capitol.
His family gives the city nearly a hundred acres for next to nothing. That's not just a brick story. That's an Austin story, laid one course at a time.
What the marker says
Michael Butler (1842-1909) emigrated from Limerick, Ireland, to New York City in 1866 and worked as a bricklayer. After traveling the country pursuing the masonry trade, Butler arrived in Dallas in 1869 and established a brick plant on the Trinity River. From 1869 to 1873, Butler’s plant produced handmade bricks using the sun-dried brick method. In 1873, Butler sold the Dallas plant to his brother, Patrick Butler, and moved to Austin, establishing his first Austin brick plant at the foot of East Avenue (now IH-35) on the north bank of the Colorado River. Flooding forced him to move, and in 1876 he purchased land and moved operations to the area roughly bordered by the Colorado River (Lady Bird Lake), South First Street, present-day Barton Springs Road and Barton Creek. These brickyards remained in place until 1958. The interior of the Texas Capitol is supported with three million bricks from this site. Between 1873 and 1900, most of Austin’s brick structures were made with Butler bricks, initially utilizing a machine operated by mules to force alluvial clay into wooden molds. Butler married Austin native Mary Jane Kelly (1854-1935) and lived in a home he built on South Lamar until 1887 when he completed his stately brick mansion at 11th and Lavaca (demolished in 1971). Butler manufactured bricks until his death in 1909, when his sons took over the Butler Brick Company. In honor of Michael Butler, his family deeded 91 acres of the former brickyards to the city of Austin for civic use in 1941, at a fraction of the land’s value. Michael Butler Park recognizes this legacy of craftsmanship and civic pride that aided the development of Austin. (2016)