DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to let it breathe a little. Now, if you find yourself rolling along Shoal Creek in Austin, you're passing through ground that carries more history than most folks give it credit for. This is Pease Park, and the marker lays it all out.
The place is named for the family of Elisha Marshall Pease, who served as Texas governor from 1853 to 1857. Pease himself lived from 1812 to 1883, and in his early days, this whole area sat within his plantation. So when you're walking those creek-side paths, you are walking what was once Pease land.
Now here's where the story picks up some color. On May 20, 1875, Governor and Mrs. Pease gave this twenty-three-acre site on Shoal Creek to the City of Austin, to be used as a public park.
Gave it. Just handed it over. But here's the thing — the land was already a landmark before they gave it away.
It had been a post-Civil War camping ground for General George A. Custer and two hundred federal soldiers. Custer, who lived from 1839 to 1876, had made camp right there along that creek.
Two hundred soldiers. You let that picture settle a moment. So the city receives this gift of land in 1875, already famous, already storied.
And then... they let it sit. Left undeveloped until about 1913. Nearly forty years.
But undeveloped did not mean unused. People found their way there. Volunteer firemen held their annual outings on those grounds.
Celebrations of all sorts worked their way into that green space along the creek. And today the marker says what anyone standing there can confirm: it remains a spot of natural beauty. Some places just hold onto something, no matter what passes through them.
Pease Park is one of those places.
What the marker says
Named for family of 1853-57 Texas governor, Elisha Marshall Pease (1812-83), within whose early-day plantation this area was situated. Gov. and Mrs. Pease on May 20, 1875, gave 23-acre site here on Shoal Creek to City of Austin for use as a public park. It was already a landmark, known as post-Civil War camping ground of Gen. George A. Custer (1839-76) and 200 federal soldiers. Left undeveloped until about 1913, park was nevertheless used for all sorts of celebrations such as the annual outings of volunteer firemen. It remains a spot of natural beauty. (1971)