Tucked away off the bustling restaurant row on Barton Springs road, and just west of Lamar Boulevard, lies a conglomerate of little neighborhoods that make up Austin’s Barton Hills community. The area where Barton Hills is currently located holds some of Austin’s oldest historical features. In the early 1990s, dinosaur footprints were found dating back to the late Cretaceous period, 97 to 65 million years ago. Artifacts have also been found from Native American tribes figured to be 11,000 years old. In 1837, a pioneer known as William â€Uncle Billy†Barton settled on the land, and named the nearby springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. Though the names of Uncle Billy’s daughters have been forgotten, Barton’s name has remained. Knowing his land, with its refreshing spring water, could be a popular tourist attraction, Barton marketed it as such. In 1875, Austinites could take a steamboat across the Colorado river to Barton Springs for 50 cents round trip. Due to its location south of the river, and several blocks west of the populated South Congress area, development of Barton Hills didn’t begin until the 1940s. Through the mid 1950s, Barton Hills was sparsely populated, with most of the homes built by modern architect A.D. Stenger, whose homes are still highly sought after today. In 1956, the area of Barton Hills was subdivided into six sections, with 1,585 lots planned on its 535 acres. Unlike most centrally located neighborhoods, Barton Hills has room to grow even now, with over 8,000 homes in the area. Barton Hills was featured in Austin’s 1956 Parade of Homes as â€the world’s largest air conditioned subdivision.†Many of the homes in the area were built in the long, low one story ranch style, and the trend continued through the 1980s. Recently, large custom homes have been built in a wide variety of shapes, styles and colors. What made Barton Hills attractive to those initial buyers 50 years ago are still some of the neighborhood’s biggest draws today. With its mature trees, rolling hills, and close proximity to the Barton creek greenbelt, Barton Hills exudes the feeling of living in a park. Many young families are also drawn to the area since the Barton Hills Elementary School has been rated with the highest mark of â€Exemplary†among the Texas Public Schools. Barton Hills is located within walking distance of many Austin hotspots, such as restaurants like Shady Grove, Chuy’s, and Baby Acapulco’s. Barton Springs pool still stands, and cools off its swimmers with a delightful 68 degrees year round. The beautiful Umlauf Sculpture Gardens and Zilker Botanical Gardens are tranquil spots accessible from Barton Hills. In the early twentieth century Andrew Zilker owned the land around the springs, and he deeded it to the City of Austin as a park in 1918. Now Zilker Park encompasses 350 acres with hike and bike trails, fields for sporting events, the Zilker Hillside Theater, and many other attractions. The park hosts different events almost every weekend, such as the Zilker Kite Festival, Blues on the Green, and the Trail of Lights. There have also been large outdoor concerts in the park, by acts like the Rolling Stones, and most recently, the highly popular Austin City Limits Music festival, a three day long music fest that attracts a crowd 65,000 people to the park each day of the festival. Though most communities would shudder at the thought of such a crowd invading their area, Barton Hills embraces it, and enjoys the festive atmosphere. Though the subdivision’s original flier referred to Barton Hills as â€Country Livingâ€, today it is one of Austin’s most popular places to live- in the heart of the action.
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