(Home mortgage loans) The Rosedale Neighborhood and Park
No commentsBy Ki Gray
During the 1800s, the neighborhood now known as Rosedale was farm and dairy land, and even later, in the early 1900s, the area was used primarily for plant nurseries and florist shops, and remnants of those days remain. This lovely area, which retains the look of abundant growth, is still heavily covered with foliage, trees, shrubs, and flowers, and is also quiet and peaceful.
Most of the homes in the area were built in the 1930s and 1940s, and are unique and historic, with numerous cottages, wooden bungalows and brick homes. The Rosedale neighborhood is located in the northern part of central Austin, and is bordered by Lamar on the east, Shoal Creek to the west, North Loop/Hancock Drive to the north and 38th Street to the south.
One of the central features of the Rosedale neighborhood is Ramsey Park, which is a beautiful park with a large swimming pool, tennis courts, a playground, picnic areas and hike and bike trails, all under a canopy of leafy shade trees. There are roughly 1,200 homes in the area, most with easy access to the park, as well as many other attractions, businesses, and neighborhood hotspots.
One of the biggest employers in the Rosedale area is the medical community, since Seton Hospital is situated on the southern border of the neighborhood, and the hospital is surrounded by various medical buildings, doctor’s offices, and other health-related professional establishments, including Shoal Creek Hospital, which is just a block or so from the Seton complex.
There are also quite a few historic homes, many of which have been recently renovated, including the Seiders-Peterson home on 40th street, in the heart of Rosedale. There is also a local library in Rosedale, called the Yarbrough Library, which has a yearly holiday party and festival for residents, and the library is located on Hancock Street.
Another well-known yearly event in Rosedale is the annual 4th of July parade and carnival held at Ramsey Park, with games, booths, contests, and various kinds of foods and beverages, and the yearly festivities attract a throng of crowds every year.
The inhabitants of the Rosedale neighborhood are a diverse mixture of people, including young families, professionals, and older residents, some of whom have been in the neighborhood for years, and have raised children and grandchildren, many still living in Rosedale themselves.
There is also a popular art gallery in the Rosedale area called Images of Austin, and the gallery features the work of Mary Doerr and Ginny Findeison, and many of the works represent the various beautiful sites of Austin, as well as the southwest and central Texas. The gallery is located on Burnet Road.
Directly across Lamar from the Seton hospital area are two other prominent attractions for Austin residents, the Central Market complex, with its patio cafe, occasional live music, and various esoteric items, as well as a plethora of foods, wines, and other products, and the Heart Hospital, which gives residents even more access to top notch medical care. There are many small shops and boutiques in the Central Market complex, many with unusual and one of a kind selections of art, glass, jewelry, clothing, and other goods and crafts.
The Rosedale area blends the old, quaint, and historic aspects of Austin with the new, urban, professional aspects, and the mix is sure to please even the most selective individual, so for those who enjoy easy access to the University of Texas, downtown, and the Capital, as well as quiet, tree-lined streets with historic and unique homes, come to Rosedale, and you might just want to stay!
Ki is a real estate agent in central Texas. His works with people interested in Austin real estate. His site has a graphical search of the Austin MLS along with information on Rosedale Austin homes.
The Historic Moonlight Towers in Austin
By Ki Gray
Most visitors to Austin notice the unusual streetlights strategically located throughout the city known as the moonlight towers, but most are not aware of the history of the towers. Probably the most well known of the moonlight towers is the one in Zilker Park which is used every year to represent a huge Christmas tree, when it is encircled with multi-colored lights and can be seen from miles away.
There are actually 17 moonlight towers in and around Austin, including the Zilker tower, and these lights have been in use since the late 1800s, when Austin purchased the lights from the city of Detroit. In 1894, 31 used mercury vapor lamps were installed throughout Austin, and at the time, these types of lights were used in many cities across the country, but Austin is the only city still using them today.
The lamps, which are perched atop wrought iron posts, give off a distinctive pinkish-yellow light, and the lamps illuminate a 3000 foot circle of ground. Even thought the lights appear to be one large lamp, they are actually made up of 6 carbon arc lamps, and the lamp poles are actually 165 feet triangular posts made of cast and wrought iron.
The 100 year anniversary of the moonlight towers was celebrated in Zilker Park in 1995, and some of those who attended the anniversary event still have the custom made shirts which were available for purchase at the event, with an original artist’s rendition of the lamps on the front and back of the shirts, including the date of the commemoration of the lights. These shirts are considered collector’s items now, and the lamps themselves are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Most of the moonlight towers are situated in or around the older residential neighborhoods which encircle the downtown area, such as Clarksville, Speedway, Bouldin Creek, and the Zilker Park neighborhoods, but some are actually located in the downtown area itself, such as the one that is located at Guadalupe Street and West 9th. During the time of the 100 year anniversary of the lights, all of them were taken down and restored one at a time and then replaced in their original location, and even though there were originally 31 lamps, there are now only 17 in operation.
Each moonlight tower is held up by a fifteen foot pedestal which is encircled with guy wires and a network of cables, and the lights are changed and maintained by the use of a ladder which is affixed to the towers. Each tower has a commemorative plaque as well, with a brief history of the lights engraved on the plaque. The lights have been in continuous operation for over 100 years, and during that time, the lights have only been turned off twice.
The first time they were turned off was in 1905 when the lights were unlit for week during a dispute between the members of the city council and the Water and Light Commission. The second time they were turned off was in 1973, when the national energy crisis required the city to turn them off to conserve energy.
The moonlight towers are another example of the uniqueness of Austin, as well as Austin’s intention of preserving our heritage and honoring its historical significance. Many people travel to Austin to see the annual lighting of the Zilker Tree, which includes a yearly celebration of the Zilker Moonlight Tower, so be sure to visit Zilker during the holidays and check out the beautiful, tall, lighted tower, which is lit to resemble a tree, or drive through the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and take a look for yourself at these legendary lights!
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Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under realestate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
