Wooldridge Square

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Wooldridge Square has to say — and friend, this little patch of Austin has seen more history than most places three times its size. It all starts with a man named Edwin Waller, who in 1839 sat down and drew out the brand new capital city of the Republic of Texas. Not a city that had grown up slow and sideways like most places do — no, this one was planned, deliberate, a 196-block grid, fourteen by fourteen, cut through the middle by a broad north-south avenue he named Congress, running up from the Colorado River all the way to Capitol Square.

And scattered through that plan were four blocks Waller set aside as public squares. This one — the square we're talking about right now — had its south side dedicated for churches. Three of Austin's first churches rose up overlooking it, including two of the first African American churches in the city.

So from the very beginning, this ground meant something. But here's the thing about grand civic visions — somebody still has to mow the grass. For decades, the city left the square itself largely unimproved.

It just sat there, full of potential and not much else. Then along comes 1909, and Austin mayor A.P. Wooldridge.

Now, the marker is honest enough to note that Wooldridge lived on the north side of the square — so when he got animated by civic pride and what the marker wonderfully calls "backyard boosterism," well, you can draw your own conclusions about the view from his porch. Whatever the motivation, the man got the city moving. They cleaned up the square, and they brought in a designer named Charles Page to build a bandstand for public engagements.

Page placed that bandstand with some strategy — right over a tributary of Shoal Creek that bisected what was by then being called Wooldridge Park. That waterway was later rechanneled underground, but the bandstand stood, and the square came alive. Over the next century, what came through that bandstand would curl your hair.

Booker T. Washington spoke here in 1911. Minnie Fisher Cunningham took that stage in the 1910s.

And in 1941, a young Lyndon B. Johnson launched his first senate campaign right here at Wooldridge Square. Scores of Texas political aspirants — the marker says scores, and you believe it — reached out to voters from that bandstand over the decades.

Then the 1960s arrived, and the cultural commotions of that era reverberated through this square the same as everywhere else. Civil rights marches often ended at Wooldridge in a flurry of speeches and rallies. And in 1968 — this is the one that'll get you — a benefit held right here introduced the world to the artistic rendering of an armadillo as a counterculture icon of Austin.

The armadillo. Counterculture symbol of a city. Born at a benefit on a square that Edwin Waller scratched into a map back in 1839.

Waller planned for a public square. He got one. Just maybe not exactly the one he had in mind — and that, right there, is Austin in a nutshell.

What the marker says

Edwin Waller designed the Republic of Texas' new capital city of Austin in 1839. Waller's plan included a 196-block grid (14 by 14) bisected by a broad north-south thoroughfare, Congress Avenue, running up from the Colorado River to Capitol Square. He also designated four blocks as "public squares," with the south side of this square also dedicated for churches. Three of Austin's first churches were built overlooking the square, including two of the first African American churches. Yet in those early years, the square itself remained unimproved by the city. In 1909, Austin mayor A.P. Wooldridge, animated by civic pride and backyard boosterism (he lived on the north side of the square), inspired the city to clean up the square and build a bandstand for public engagements. Designed by Charles Page, the bandstand was strategically placed over a tributary of Shoal Creek which bisected what was called Wooldridge Park. This waterway was later rechanneled underground. Over the next century, Wooldridge Square would host concerts and assemblies as well as notable speakers, such as Booker T. Washington (1911) and Minnie Fisher Cunningham (1910s). The first senate campaign of Lyndon B. Johnson (1941) was launched here, and scores of Texas political aspirants reached out to voters from the bandstand. The cultural commotions of the 1960s reverberated through this square as well. Civil rights marches often ended at Wooldridge with a flurry of speeches and rallies. In 1968, a benefit at the square introduced the world to the artistic rendering of an armadillo as a counterculture icon of Austin. As one of the city's original civic spaces, Wooldridge Square continues to be important as a recreation destination and as a place to gather. (1971, 2022)