Pease Park
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This green stretch along Shoal Creek began as part of the early plantation holdings of Elisha Marshall Pease, a Texas governor of the 1850s. In the years after the Civil War it served as a camping ground for federal troops during the military occupation of Texas, and in 1875 Governor Pease and his wife gave the acreage to the city as a public park. Long a favored spot for firemen's outings and community celebrations, it remained largely undeveloped for decades and still keeps its natural beauty.
Why it matters
The park links two threads of Texas history — antebellum political leadership and the federal presence that reshaped the state during Reconstruction — in a place still used by the public today.
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Related people
- · Elisha Marshall Pease
- · George A. Custer
Themes & tags
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