Aerial night view of downtown Austin, Texas, with Barton Springs Pool illuminated in the foreground. The South Austin corridor of Barton Springs Road has seen plenty of evolution following years of exponential population growth and new business endeavors flocking Texas’ capital city. (Scott Flathouse/Getty Images)
Aerial night view of downtown Austin, Texas, with Barton Springs Pool illuminated in the foreground. The South Austin corridor of Barton Springs Road has seen plenty of evolution following years of exponential population growth and new business endeavors flocking Texas’ capital city. (Scott Flathouse/Getty Images)
One of Austin’s most iconic roads, doubling as the gateway to the «crown jewel» of Texas’ capital, has seen plenty of change over the years as the city has attracted a surge of new residents and businesses to its repertoire.
With that change, though, has come growing pains through the loss of beloved businesses that once were peppered along the South Austin corridor. In the blocks leading up to Zilker Park and Barton Springs Pool, Barton Springs Road’s transformation is one that, in many ways, mirrors that of a city on a growth trajectory.
Barton Springs Road’s namesake beckons back to William Barton, dubbed the «Daniel Boone of Texas,» per Texas State Historical Association archival articles. Nearly a decade after arriving in Texas in 1928, he patented the land adjacent to what’s now Barton Springs and lived near the waters, with his name serving as inspiration for the area neighborhood, pool and roadway.