Rosewood Park

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, African American enclaves were spread throughout Austin, but the 1928 Austin city plan codified segregation of communities of color to the east side by restricting utilities and services in other parts of the city. As a result, Rosewood Park was established as a recreational facility for African Americans on land carved from the 40-acre homestead along Boggy Creek of local merchant Rudolph Bertram and his family, including a two-story limestone house built there in the 1870s. Rudolph’s daughter, Emmie Huppertz, sold 17 acres to the city in 1928 to create Austin’s first public park for African Americans. When it opened in 1930, it featured a swimming pool, clubhouse in the remodeled Bertram-Huppertz home, and baseball diamonds. Segregated sports leagues, concerts, pageants, and holiday festivities were frequent and popular uses, and Juneteenth has been celebrated there each year since the park opened. During the Great Depression, the Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration provided partial funding for improvements ranging from roads and lights to the bandstand. During World War II, the city’s recreation department provided African American servicemen stationed in Central Texas with dances, picnics, and sing-alongs, culminating in construction of Doris Miller auditorium in 1944. After the war, the auditorium was a popular stop on the chitlin’ circuit of African American performers. In the summer of 1963, Austin city pools and parks quietly integrated, and Rosewood Park continues to serve as the heart of the neighborhood and an important space in Austin’s cultural history.

Austin, Texas · United States