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 Pease Park Posted by:  Raven
N 30° 16.858 W 097° 45.090
14R E 620078 N 3350579
A marker by one of the main entrances to Pease Park in Austin, TX briefly denoting its history as a plantation and post-civil war military campground for the federal forces.
Waymark Code: WM123PH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/19/2020
Views: 4
Below is a more in-depth historical perspective of what is now Pease Park (formally "Peace District Park"), located at the banks of Shoal Creek in Austin, TX. The narrative comes from " CultureMap Austin": "[...] Long before Pease Park became an official part of Austin, winding along the banks of Shoal Creek from West 15th to West 31st streets, the 42-acre parcel was home to Native American tribes. Over 11,000 years ago, these tribes spent winters in Texas before moving across the Great Plains following herds of buffalo traversing the land.
During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, troops were sent to Texas to help stop robbery and prevent bloodshed. General Robert E. Lee and his troops are said to have camped along the banks of Shoal Creek.
After the war ended, Reconstruction was implemented to bring political, social, and economic restructuring to Southern states. Notably, General George Armstrong Custer was part of the plan, and he and his troops spent time in the Pease Park area helping to restore order.
During Custer's time in Austin, cholera spread through the park, ultimately killing 35 to 40 of his men. At the time, they were buried in the western section of Pease Park though their bodies were later removed and reinterred in the Oakwood Cemetery in East Austin and the National Cemetery in San Antonio.
Pease Park was originally part of the 365-acre Woodlawn Plantation property acquired by Texas Governor Elisha Pease and his wife, Lucadia, in 1857. Less than two decades later in 1875, the section now known as Pease Park was donated to the city for use as parkland to be enjoyed by residents. Pease died in 1883 before the park was in use by local citizens, and Mrs. Pease later complained in a letter that the property was used by neighbors to dump livestock carcasses.
The Pease's historic 1853 home, which sits just west of the park, was originally part of the Woodlawn division in the Old Enfield neighborhood, north of Clarksville and west of the University of Texas campus. Four generations of the Pease family lived in the home before Governor Allan Shivers and his family purchased the home in 1957. The Shivers family eventually gave the home to UT, which later sold the mansion to the State of Texas.
As if the presence of Civil War troops along the banks of Shoal Creek wasn't enough, the mid-to-late 1800s brought another round of excitement to the area: fortune seekers mining for gold. It was rumored that Mexican gold was buried in the Pease Park territory, attracting treasure seekers from all over. (According to newspaper accounts at the time even psychics and diviners joined the crowds in seeking riches.) Though many sought their fortune by furiously digging the grounds for years, alas gold was never discovered. [...]"
Marker Number: 15397
Marker Text:
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)
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