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NPS Form 10-900 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form OMB No. 1024-0018 1. Name of Property Historic Name: Rosewood Park Other name/site number: Rosewood Neighborhood Park Name of related multiple property listing: NA 2. Location Street & number: 2300 Rosewood Avenue State: Texas City or town: Austin Vicinity:  Not for publication:  County: Travis 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this  nomination  request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property  meets  does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following levels of significance:  national  statewide  local Applicable National Register Criteria:  A  B  C  D Signature of certifying official / Title State Historic Preservation Officer ___________________________ Date Texas Historical Commission State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property  meets  does not meet the National Register criteria. _______________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ Signature of commenting or other official Date ____________________________________________________________ State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that the property is: ___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register. ___ removed from the National Register ___ other, explain: _____________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas 5. Classification Ownership of Property X Private Public - Local Public - State Public - Federal Category of Property X building(s) district site structure object Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 5 3 4 5 17 4 1 3 15 23 buildings sites structures objects Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0 6. Function or Use Historic Functions: Recreation and Culture: sports facility, outdoor recreation; Landscape: park Current Functions: Recreation and Culture: sports facility, outdoor recreation; Landscape: park 7. Description Architectural Classification: No style Principal Exterior Materials: Concrete, Stone, Glass, Metal/Steel Narrative Description (see continuation sheets 6-16) Page 2 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas 8. Statement of Significance Applicable National Register Criteria: A Criteria Considerations: NA Areas of Significance: Ethnic Heritage: African American; Recreation/Entertainment; Social History (local level of significance) Period of Significance: 1929-1974 Significant Dates: 1929, 1933, 1944, 1971, 1973 Significant Person (only if criterion b is marked): Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion d is marked): Architect/Builder: Narrative Statement of Significance (see continuation sheets 17-32) 9. Major Bibliographic References Bibliography (see continuation sheet 33-35) Previous documentation on file (NPS): _ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. _ previously listed in the National Register _ previously determined eligible by the National Register _ designated a National Historic Landmark _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Primary location of additional data: x State historic preservation office (Texas Historical Commission, Austin) _ Other state agency _ Federal agency x Local government: Austin History Center _ University _ Other -- Specify Repository: Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): NA Page 3 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property: approximately 14 acres Coordinates: Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84: N/A 1. Latitude: 30.271326° 2. Latitude: 30.270639° 3. Latitude: 30.270429° 4. Latitude: 30.273624° 5. Latitude: 30.272860° Longitude: -97.712950° Longitude: -97.713836° Longitude:-97.715036° Longitude: -97.715501° Longitude: -97.713851° Verbal Boundary Description: LOT 1-3 ROSEWOOD VILLAGE SEC 4 & .246AC OF OLT 59 DIV B (Property ID #197675) and sketched on Map 2. (Travis CAD accessed May 21, 2025.) Boundary Justification: The nominated boundary includes all property historically and currently associated with Rosewood Park. 11. Form Prepared By Name/title: Dr. Tara A. Dudley and Ciara Hackman (with contributions from Isabella Nuckels and Estefania Barreto) Organization: The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture Street & number: 310 Inner Campus Drive City or Town: Austin State: Texas Email: Telephone: (512) 471-1922 Date: March 1, 2026 Zip Code: 78712 Additional Documentation Maps (see continuation sheets 36-38) Additional items (see continuation sheets 39-46) Photographs (see continuation sheets 47-57) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC. Page 4 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photograph Log Property: Location: Photographers: Tara A. Dudley and Ciara Hackman, June 2023; and THC Staff Date(s): Rosewood Park 2300 Rosewood Avenue Austin, Travis County, Texas June 2023, May 2025. Photo 1: Entrance (#1) to Rosewood Park off Rosewood Ave., looking north. Photo 2: Entrance gateway (#1) details, looking northwest. Photo 3: Tennis Courts (#3), looking northeast from entrance gateway. Photo 4: Doris Miller Auditorium (#2), looking northwest. Photo 5: Doris Miller Auditorium interior, looking northwest. Photo 6: Looking northeast to Madison Cabin (#15) and 1873 Betram House/Delories Duffie Recreation Center (#13) in the foreground. The photo also shows the elevation change from the parking lot off Rosewood Avenue. Photo 7: Henry Madison Cabin under restoration. Looking southeast. Photo 8: Built in 1873, the Bertram House//Delories Duffie Recreation Center (#13) predates Rosewood Park. Looking north at primary elevation. Photo 9: Rosewood Pool (#6) Photo 10: 1934 Poolhouse (#7), looking east. Photo 11: Poolhouse/Restroom, built c. 2020, looking southeast. Photo 12: Looking east to noncontributing play equipment (#9). Photo 13: 1939 Concession Stand (#10), looking east. Photo 14: 1939 Bandstand (#12) north of/behind Bertram House (#13) Photo 15: Contextual photo from north parking lots looking south at Bandstand (#12) and Bertram House (#13). Photo 16: North side of Rosewood Park, looking northwest towards noncontributing pavilion (#17). Photo 17: Contextual view of north baseball diamond (#24), looking east with channel in foreground and Bertram House (#13) in the far background. Photo 18: South baseball diamond (#20) looking northwest. Photo 19: Looking up/northeast at Bertram House (#13) and 1930 stair/retaining walls (#14) from homebase (#20). Photo 20: Contextual view looking south toward the parking lot from park promontory. Doris Miller Auditorium (#2) on right. Page 5 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Narrative Description Rosewood Neighborhood Park in Austin, Texas, is situated on approximately 14 acres within the hilly Blackland prairie, approximately 1.5 miles from the downtown core in the historically African American East Austin community (Map 1). The park lies adjacent to Boggy Creek on a tree-filled, sloping site. Once a 17-acre homestead developed in the late 1800’s by local storeowner Rudolph Bertram, the City of Austin acquired the property in 1928 with the intention of creating a park for African Americans in the segregated neighborhood east of East Avenue (now Interstate 35 or IH-35), the site features a collection of historic buildings and structures as well as modern amenities that fulfill park functions and programming in service to the local community. The oldest building in the park—The Deloris Duffie Recreation Center—was once the home of the Bertram-Huppertz family. Envisioned as a space for the community to gather, the City adapted the home for use as a clubhouse. As a result of additions and alterations over the years, it now includes an addition with meeting rooms, a dance studio and other community programming. In the 1930s, the City of Austin provided for construction of a swimming pool, sports field, tennis courts, playground, bandstand, and concession stand. In 1944, the Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium, named for the first the native Texan who was awarded the African American awarded the Navy Cross, was erected and includes a barrel-vaulted gym, weight room, and stage performance area. The circa 1865 log cabin of Austin’s first African American alderman Henry Green Madison was relocated to the park in 1974. Although the historic buildings have been updated and non- historic park furnishings and infrastructure have been added to meet changing needs, Rosewood Neighborhood Park is recognizable to its historic appearance and retains integrity. Setting, Topography, and Geography Rosewood Neighborhood Park is sited on a triangular-shaped property along Boggy Creek at the intersection between Chestnut Avenue, North Pleasant Valley Road, and Rosewood Avenue (Maps 2-4). The park is surrounded by residential neighborhoods to the west, a multi-family dwelling complex to northeast, and a recreational area—the Boggy Creek Greenbelt—to the east and south. Many of the park’s historic resources are atop the hill that runs centrally in the park from southwest to northwest. Two small sections of the park are separated from the central core by manmade features, railroad tracks at the southeast and a drainage ditch at the northwest. The park does not have any physical barriers in the form of perimeter fencing or walls outlining the park boundaries, so pedestrian access is available directly from the roads and sidewalks that border the property and from the surrounding streets and neighborhoods. The elevated North Pleasant Valley Road and bridge (erected in 1973) serve as physical boundaries along the northeast and east perimeter of the park. The bridge creates a pedestrian underpass that connects Rosewood Park and the Boggy Creek Greenbelt (Photo 12). The historic entrance into the park features a gateway (Resource No. 1) into the southeast parking lot (Photo 1). This parking lot provides direct access to the Doris Miller Auditorium (Resource No. 2) and to the tennis courts (Resource No. 3) which anchor the southern corners of the park. From the front parking lot, the ground slopes upward to form a south lawn that culminates in a centrally located hill. Atop the hill, the highest point in the park, are the Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 13), Henry Green Madison Cabin (Resource No. 15), and a covered pavilion (Resource No. 17). The change in ground level around the central hill is mitigated by a grand limestone staircase and retaining walls (Resource No. 14) west of the recreation center and Madison Cabin (Resource No. 15) and a smaller limestone staircase that ties into retaining walls to the south and east (Resource No. 18). The lower east slope of the park features the pool complex—splash pad (Resource No.5), swimming pool (Resource No. 6), historic pool house (Resource No. 7), and newer pool house/restroom building (Resource No. 8)—as well as a playground (Resource No. 9), concession stand (Resource No. 10) and barbeque pit (Resource No. 11), and bandstand (Resource No. 12) (Photo DSC_054). West of the central hill, the terrain slopes downward toward two baseball diamonds (Resource Nos. 20 and 24) separated by an expanse of flat lawn. Between the northern baseball diamond (Resource No. 24) and North Page 6 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Pleasant Valley Road are a restroom building (Resource No. 25) and the Catherine Lamkin Pavilion (Resource No. 26). A drainage ditch runs along the western boundary of the park at Chestnut Avenue, turning to the northeast to run into the on the Mount Carmel Apartments on the opposite side of North Pleasant Valley Road. This drainage ditch separates the Chestnut Community Center (Resource No. 27) in the northern tip of the park from the rest of the site. The Southern Pacific railroad tracks in the southeast of the park separate a small triangular parcel from the rest of the site. Rosewood Neighborhood Park has historically featured a variety of species of trees including pecan, post oak, Texas oak, Live Oak, persimmon, sycamore, crape myrtle, red cedar, American elm, ballmoss, anaqua, bald cypress, yaupon, Chinese tallow, Eve’s necklace, cedar elm, mistletoe, coma, and mesquite.1 While climactic change and other natural events have resulted in a loss of some vegetation over the years, such as in 1935 when the city lost many of its trees to illness, the park retains a significant tree canopy.2 The most notable clusters are located on the central hilltop in front of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 13), behind (north) of the central hill along the driveway, in front of the Doris Miller Auditorium (Resource No. 2), north and west of the Catherine Lamkin Arboretum (Resource No. 26), and southeast of the tennis courts (Resource No. 3) along the creek and Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The southeasternmost corner of the park also contains a segment of the Boggy Creek Greenbelt Trail and serves as a buffer between the park and Rosewood Avenue.3 Circulation and Access Primary vehicular access into the park is from Rosewood Avenue into a parking lot in the southeast corner. One may enter the lot via a driveway marked by an entrance gate (Resource No. 1) at the park’s south boundary line or via a more westerly driveway at the corner of Rosewood and Chestnut Avenues. Additional vehicular access is via a curving driveway from North Pleasant Valley Road that terminates at a parking lot east of the Deloris Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 2); the Concession Stand (Resource No.) and Bandstand (Resource No. 12) are at the southeast and northeast corners of the lot, respectively. A third parking lot south of the Chestnut Community Center building (Resource No. 27) in the northwest corner of the park is accessible from Chestnut Avenue. Connectivity into and through the park is also facilitated via several pedestrian pathways. Concrete walkways flank the south lawn and provide access between the southeast parking lot and the park’s main buildings and amenities. The walkway on the west runs east of the Doris Miller Auditorium (Resource No. 2), culminating in a short flight of limestone stairs southeast of the Madison log cabin (Resource No. 15) (Photo 6-7). The walkway on the east extends from the parking lot to run alongside the tennis courts (Resource No. 3) and pool complex, terminating between the recreation center (Resource No. 13) and the concession stand (Resource No. 11). Additional concrete walkways with iron handrails provide access between the playscape (Resource No. 9) and the buildings on the hill. Two pedestrian bridges with concrete decks and iron railings provide access into the park from Chestnut Avenue over the drainage ditch—one south of the north parking lot, the other parallel with S. L. Davis Avenue. One unpaved, dirt pathway meanders from the North Please Valley Road driveway toward and south of the Catherine Lamkin Arboretum (Resource No. 26). 1 “Catherine Lamkin Arboretum Trail of Trees,” unpublished document, City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), Austin, Texas. 2 “Strange Malady Attacks Austin Oak Trees,” Austin American-Statesman, February 8, 1935, 14. 3 The Urban Renewal Agency transferred this parcel to the City of Austin in 1982. It is unclear why it was added to the park boundaries as opposed to the Boggy Creek Greenbelt. Email correspondence from Sarah Marshall to Tara A. Dudley, June 21, 2024. Page 7 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Additional Man-made Landscape Features The park contains additional man-made landscape features. Limestone planters are located at the foundation of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center’s south facade as well as around the large oak trees in front of the building. One tree between the swimming pool and concession stand is protected by a concrete planter with built-in steps. Limestone and landscape timber curbing border the concrete walkways through the park. Identifying and regulatory signage as well as historic designation markers are also present around the grounds. A system of concrete channels along the western perimeter funnels rainwater. (Photo 17) Site Evolution When the park opened in 1929, it consisted of the recreation center (Resource ID No. 13) and swimming pool (Resource ID No. 6). Improvements in the 1930s included enlargement of the swimming pool as well as the addition of two lighted softball diamonds (Resource Nos. 20 and 24), playground apparatus, a bandstand (Resource No. 12), and a concession stand (Resource No. 10). During World War II, Doris Miller Auditorium (Resource No. 2) and two tennis courts (Resource Nos. 3) were constructed.4 In the early 1970s, additions were made to the recreation center and auditorium under the Model Cities program. In 1982, the City acquired four parcels which were added to the park boundaries.5 4 “Veteran Leader: Negro Recreation Plan Grows Under Mabson,” Austin American-Statesman, March 10, 1954, 17. 5 Per Travis Central Appraisal District and the authors’ assumptions since these were not included in the Bertram-Huppertz property transfer. Page 8 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Table 1. Count of Contributing and Non-contributing resources in Rosewood Neighborhood Park. Resource Type Resource No. Resource Name Year Built 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16, 19 17 18 20, 24 21, 22 23 25 26 27 28-40 40 TOTAL RESOURCES Entrance Gateway Doris Miller Auditorium Tennis Courts Utility Shed Splash Pad Swimming Pool Historic Pool House Pool House/Restroom Building Playscape and Gaga Pit Concession Stand Barbeque Pit Bandstand Delores Duffie Recreation Center Grand Stair and Retaining Walls Henry Green Madison Cabin Water Fountains (2) Covered Pavilion Terrace Stairs and Retaining Walls Baseball Diamonds (2) Murals (2) Scoreboard Restroom Pavilion Catherine Lamkin Arboretum Chestnut Community Center Picnic Tables (13) Contributing Resources 1930 1944 1936 between 2009-2012 between 2009-2012 1930 1934 ca. 2020 1985-2004 1939 1939 1939 1875 1930 1869, 1973 1930, 1934 before 1997 before 1997 1930 2017 1930 ca. 1980 ca. 1980 between 2009-2012 before 1997 Rosewood Neighborhood Park contains 17 contributing resources. Entrance Gateway (Resource No. 1; Photos 1-2) g n d i l i u B ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 9 g n i t u b i r t n o C ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● e t i S ● ● ● t c e j b O ● ● ● ● ● e r u t c u r t S ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 4 7 ● 20 17 g n i t u b i r t n o c n o N ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 23 The historic entrance to the park from Rosewood Avenue, approximately midway between Chestnut Avenue and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, is marked by a driveway flanked by a limestone wall on either side. The entryway walls were designed by City building inspector Gregory S. Moore and installed in 1930 (Figure 7-4).6 Each wall consists of two obelisk-shaped piers—one 10'-6" tall, the other 6'-3" tall—joined by a wall that curves from 6'-0" to 3'- 10" in height. The entrance gateway walls are oriented in reverse with the taller pier of each adjacent to the drive from Rosewood Avenue into the southeast parking lot. Each of the two taller piers contains a five-sided limestone block 6 This was Gregory S. Moore’s title in the 1930 Austin directory. Morrison & Fourmy’s Austin (Texas) City Directory, 1930-1931 (Boston and Dallas: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., 1931), 386. Page 9 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas stamped with “ROSEWOOD PARK” on the south face. Iron rings embedded in the piers—one on the inside face of the taller piers and three on the outside face of the shorter piers, likely once connected to barrier chains. Bertram House/Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 2, Photos 8-9) The Delores Duffie Recreation Center consists of two wings—a south block (25.5' x 36' ft) that was originally designed as a single-family home and a perpendicular north wing constructed in 1971. The original two-story dwelling portion, built for the Rudolph and Bertha Bertram family on the highest point of the property in 1875, displays a mixture stylistic influences and features a flat-topped, low-pitch hipped roof with a bracketed cornice. Bertram insisted on high-quality, local construction materials—stacked limestone and wood, likely cedar and pine. The house had one entrance with paired doors at the south façade looking towards Boggy Creek and 16 windows on the first floor— the original fenestration arrangement is present on the south, west, and east facades. The original windows were the first double-hung window sash counterweights in town, shipped from New York City.7 Segmental-arched lintels are present over the original doorway and the window openings. The two west rooms on the first floor each features a projecting bay window (9.75' wide by 6' deep). Although no images of the house prior to 1929 have been found, the Bertrams’ granddaughters Meta and Willie Huppertz (daughters of Emma Bertra and Charles Huppertz) recalled a wraparound wood porch with railings and benches as well as a wood widow’s peak separating the chimney flues atop the flat roof deck of the house.8 By the time the City acquired the property in 1928, the porch had not been present for an undetermined number of years, but the widow’s peak was still present. Existing archival photos also depict a one- story portico at the south façade entry with paired columns and lace-like brackets. Roof balustrades, with a fretwork design, similar to the one on the widow’s peak were atop the portico and the east façade bay windows. The house included a large attic and 13 rooms. Originally, a detached kitchen and washhouse building was located behind the house. Sometime prior to 1928, the breezeway between the main dwelling and the kitchen/washhouse building was enclosed so that the breezeway and outbuilding became an attached rear (north) wing of the house. The original house wing has been renovated and updated several times, but the 24-inch-thick limestone walls remain. The first renovations to the house occurred with the City’s acquisition and early development of the park (Figures 7-6 and 7-7) in the 1930s. The work included: floor repairs, removing and repairing old lathe and plaster, creating a door opening between the two eastern first-floor rooms, • • • • partitioning the first-floor stair hall to create a bathroom, • • • removing partitions in the three south-facing rear on the second floor, installing new exterior doors at the hallway between the house wing and rear wing, and installing electric boards The widow’s peak was removed but replaced with another of a different design. At this time, the rear wing (former kitchen/washhouse) was converted into equal-sized women’s and men’s locker rooms, each with a toilet and a shower. The rooms had walls of lockers along the interior and east-facing exterior doors. One window was located high up on the west façade of each room. In 1934, City building inspector Gregory S. Moore drew up plans for a north addition to the locker room so that men and women could have larger spaces. The addition was made to accommodate one gender, while the previous two locker rooms built into the original rear wing of the house were combined to accommodate the other. 7 Interview of Meta and Willie Huppertz, January 13, 1975, Rosewood Recreation Center, Interview 0123, Austin Public Library, Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas. 8 Interview of Meta and Willie Huppertz. Page 10 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas In 1971, an addition was made to the Rosewood Park Recreation Center through a grant from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and Model Cities.9 The City hired Canyon Construction for the project which included demolition of the one-story rear wing and construction of a new two-story steel-frame, limestone-clad addition with a gabled roof.10 The new addition shifted the primary entry to the east side of the recreation center with access from the south. In the historic Bertram-Huppertz House wing, the first-floor rooms were repurposed for recreational and administrative use while the second-floor rooms were combined to form one large arts and crafts room. Around this time, the historic south entry portico supports were removed and replaced with knee walls; the balustrades on the roofs of the portico, bay windows, and house roof were also removed. It is unknown when the present south entry portico limestone surround was constructed. Based on analysis of aerial maps, a two-story secondary stairwell was added to the east side of the house wing between 1997 and 2003. Echoing historic features of the building, the stair hall addition is clad with limestone and features a partial hipped roof as well as large segmental-arched window openings. Today, the building continues to be utilized as a recreation center and administrative hub. The house wing is oriented toward the vestibule of the 1971 addition; the historic primary entry on the south façade is utilized by staff only and as an emergency exit. The first floor of the house contains a reception area, offices, art room, and storage space while the second with art, ceramic, and dance studios as well as administrative offices for the park’s operations. Bandstand (Resource No. 12; Photo 14) At the north side of the parking lot east of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center is a bandstand which was built in 1939. The uncovered and raised platform has a limestone wall base topped with leveled concrete to form the floor surface of the bandstand. Centered at the south side of the bandstand are concrete stairs flanked by limestone knee walls to provide access from ground level to the platform. Arranged symmetrically along the perimeter of the bandstand are ten electrical poles. Each consists of a concrete pedestal from which a metal pole rises. The metal poles where originally capped with a bulb and conical-shaped shades. The bulb apparatus were removed and the poles capped at an unknown date. Accordingly, the shades are no longer extant. Between each light pole, except the two flanking the stairs, are two horizontal metal bars to serve as a barrier. Storage, and likely the original mechanical/electrical space, are present under the bandstand in a partially subterranean room. The room is accessed via a staircase leading to a door in the west façade of the bandstand. North of the door in the west façade is a small window. The window and door have a concrete header. Similarly, concrete coping tops the limestone retaining wall along the west and north sides of the stair. The bandstand hosted frequent evening and weekend concerts through the 1960’s. Historic Pool House (Resource No. 7; Photo 10) The historic pool house, completed by 1955 during the expansion of the swimming pool, is a rectangular limestone building centered at the east end of the pool (Figure 7-15). The structure has a flat roof. Fenestration at the west façade includes a door on the north end providing access to the interior and, to the right (south) of the door, four narrow vertically-oriented windows at the top of the wall. 9 Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), “A Living Legacy: Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present and Creating Our Future: Austin Parks and Recreation Department, 1928-2003,” accessed February 27, 2026, https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Homepage/pard-75th-anniv-booklet-2.pdf. 10 Larry BeSaw, “Council Today May Soften Standards for Police Aides,” Austin American-Statesman, December 28, 1971, 2. Page 11 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Swimming Pool (Resource No. 6; Photo 9) The swimming pool is one of the original features of Rosewood Park. It has been expanded and updated several times but remains in its historic location. The original pool, designed built by contractor Dixon B. Penick, was a combination wading and swimming pool— filled to two-three feet in the afternoons for children, and raised to seven feet in the evening to accommodate adults.11 Two lifeguard stands were located on the north and south sides of the pool at the east end. A shower pole was installed on the east side of the pool. In winter/spring 1955, the City contracted with Maufrais Brothers for the general contract and J. P. Huber for the plumbing to expand the pool to 70' x 125'.12 The updated facility featured nine underwater lights in the deep end, light blue ceramic tile over the pool gutters, and red quarry tile trim around the pool deck. A 20' x 40' wading pool was added at the southwest corner of the pool.13 The wading pool was infilled or demolished at an unknown date. Today the swimming pool is surrounded by a concrete deck and up-to-date lifeguard stands. A high black, coated metal fence surrounds the swimming pool complex which includes the swimming pool, historic pool house (Resource No. 7), and pool house/restroom building (Resource No. 8). Grand Stair and Retaining Walls (Resource No. 14; Photos 19) A stone staircase and retaining walls of limestone and mortar, built in 1933 by the Civil Works Administration (CWA), are present on the west side of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center. Beginning at the end of a short concrete walkway adjacent and parallel to the center’s bay windows, the staircase extends down to the east side of the south baseball diamond (Resource No. 20). It consists of three ranges of stairs separated by two flat landings; the stair risers and treads as well as the landings are tamped earth faced with irregular-shaped limestone pavers. Each side of the staircase is bound by a low limestone wall with a cap composed of square limestone blocks. At the termination of each wall section is a limestone pier with a square limestone pier cap. Four retaining walls extend from the top and bottom piers of the walls flanking the lowest range of steps; two extending northward and two extending southward. Concession Stand (Resource No. 10; Photos 13) At the south corner of the parking lot east of the recreation center (Resource No. 13),is a single-story concession stand building constructed primarily of regularly coursed, light-colored limestone masonry blocks with visible mortar joints The rectangular plan building is topped by a low-pitched hip roof clad in brown standing-seam metal panels. At the center of the roof is a raised cupola-like ventilation also topped with a hipped, standing-seam metal roof. The roof features broad overhanging eaves around the building’s perimeter; it is supported by a circular metal pole at the southwest corner. Along the west and south side of the building are large service openings fitted with roll-down metal shutters, which function as serving windows for food or refreshments. A counter ledge projects from the building below the service windows. The building includes multiple brown-painted, metal service doors. A concrete slab patio surrounds the concession area at the west. 11 “Wading Pool Planned,” Austin American-Statesman, February 28, 1930, 2; “Negro Wading Pool is About Finished,” Austin American-Statesman, March 13, 1930, 14. 12 “Swimming Pool Costs are Lower,” Austin American-Statesman, January 13, 1955, 15. 13 “Juneteenth Gets Going On Saturday,” Austin American, June 19, 1955, 30; PARD, “A Living Legacy,” 16. Page 12 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Barbeque Pit (Resource No. 11; Photos 13) The barbeque pit/smoker is located in the grassy area west of the Concession Stand (Resource No. 10). It is a rectangular, above-ground masonry structure constructed primarily of light-colored firebrick or refractory brick laid in regular courses. At the west end of the structure is a hinged steel firebox door that is closed with a latch. When opened, .it would have allowed for feeding wood or charcoal into the fire chamber in the base beneath the cooking surface. The approximate east half of the top of the pit contains two large metal cooking lids with handles that open upward to probably reveal grated cooking surfaces underneath. The appiximate west half of the surface is covered by a thick layer of concrete.The size and permanence of the pit was designed for high-volume, communal outdoor cooking. Baseball Diamonds (Resource Nos. 20 and 24; Photos 17-18) There are two baseball fields west of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center and two tennis courts in the southeast corner of Rosewood Park. The baseball boxes appear to be in original condition although the benches are most likely concrete replacements for an earlier wood version. The bleachers and original configuration remain intact. There is a baseball scoreboard on the east side of the baseball diamonds that appears original. The tennis courts have most likely been updated, but are in their original location south of the pool. All of these facilities have been in continuous use since the opening of the park. Replaced by 1954 per Mabson article. Scoreboard (Resource No. 23) The freestanding scoreboard consisted of a wood and metal rectanular display planel mounted on two tall steep support posts anchored in the ground. A wood bar at the top of the panel features a mostly legible identifier that reads in part,“ROSE WOOD FIELD.” The front of the scoreboard is divided into a grid of electric-lit number panels to update score, innings, balls, fouls, etc. The lettering that reads “VISITOR” and “HOME” are legible at the top left and top right corners, respectively. Metal panels, some of which have labels that read “BALL” and “INNING,” are likely replacements for older lettering underneath the lit scored elements. Tennis Courts (Resource No. 3; Photos 3) Rosewood Park features a north-south complex of tennis and pickle ball courts arranged in a rectangular cluster. The hard-surface playing courts are arranged on a level paved concrete slab and enclosed by galvanized chain-link fencing that forms a continuous barrier around the entire court complex. Additional lower fencing separates the individual courts. Access to the courts are through chain-link gates positioned along the perimeter. Terrace Stairs and Retaining Wall (Resource No. 18; Photos) Located southeast of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 2), the Terrace Stairs have features similar to the Grand Stair (Resource No. 14) but are much more modest in design and size. Eight rows of concrete risers flanked by walls of limestone blocks laid in a regular pattern, provide access from the lower level to the terrace atop which the recreation center is located. A limestone retaining wall extends from either side of the Terrace Stair to frame the terrace to the south and east of the recreation center. Water Fountains (Resource Nos. 16 and 19; Photos) Rosewood Park retains two freestanding masonry drinking fountains. Each is a rectangular pedestal formed by rough- cut limestone blocks of varying sizes set in mortar. The stone at the top of the fountain (Resource No. 16) located Page 13 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas south of the recreation center (Resource No. 13) is recessed to form a basin. A stone step or platform extends from the base. A second fountain (Resource No. 19) located south of the Baseball Field (Resource No. 20) is capped with a flat stone slab on which is mounted a metal drinking spout. Henry Green Madison Cabin (Resource No. 15; Photos 7) After being discovered enveloped within a larger house during demolition in 1968, the cabin was relocated to Rosewood Park in 1973. The cabin, originally constructed in the late 1850s or early 1860s, is a small square-plan, single-room structure constructed of horizontally laid timber logs joined at the corners with traditional notching techniques and sealed with chinking and mortar between the courses. The cabin rests on a stone perimeter foundation. It is covered by a front-gabled roof; horizontal wood planks are present in the north- and south-facing gable ends. The cabin contains minimal openings. One doorway enclosed with single, vertical boards is centered on the north façade, and another on the south end of the west façade. The east and south facades feature single centered window openings enclosed with vertical-board shutters. The cabin is nestled amongst oak trees just south of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 13) near a low retaining stonewall and covered picnic landscaping. The cabin was restored in 2025. Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium (Resource No. 2; Photos 4-5) The City commissioned architect J. Roy White to design the recreation center near the southwest corner of the park. The original section of the building is constructed of a semi-circular laminated wood arched truss system over the auditorium and steel framing clad with a yellow-brick veneer at the east and west flat-roofed extensions. The 1971 front (south) addition also features brick veneer and a flat roof; it originally housed a box office and administrative office space. The laminated arched trusses remain exposed in the auditorium’s interior. The north end of the original auditorium has a full theatrical stage flanked by restrooms. The 1971 brick addition that extended the building north of the stage area contains dressing and storage rooms. The 1970s additions were designed by Noncontributing Resources Restroom Pavilion (Resource No. 25) The Restroom Pavilion is a square-shaped, loadbearing masonry building. With the exception of the wall that divides the pavilion into restrooms for women (accessed from the west) and men (accessed from the east), the walls do not reach the hipped roof that is clad with gray standing-seam metal and supported by a steel column wrapped with a concrete sleve at each corner. Catherine Lamkin Arboretum and (Resource No. 26) The pavilion is an open-sided structure with a frame compoused of a low-pitched, multi-level roof with deep overhangs supported by six steel columns wrapped with cylindrical concrete sleeves. The pavilion frame rises from a concrete slab foundation that serves as a stage and gathering place. The square-plan central portion of the frame is supported by a column at each corner; the roof is higher than the triangular shaped roof sections that extend to the north, south and west. The north and south triangular-shaped roof planes are supported by a single column at their northernmost and southernmost ends. At the west corner of the platform under another traingular roof extension is a stone veneered trapezoidal-shaped block that contains interior spaces accessed by a single door the northeast and southeast elevations. The roof is capped with a square-shaped cupola with louvered vents on each side to allow for ventilation. Page 14 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Pool House/Restroom Building (Resource No. 8; Photo 11) A new Pool House with restrooms was constructed in the park between 2018 and 2020 (based on historic aerial analysis. The building is a five-sided concrete masonry block building with a standing seam metal roof. The space between the concrete masonry walls and the roof is filled with a gridded metal screen. The roof is capped with a square-shaped cupola with louvered vents on each side to allow for ventilation. Splash Pad (Resource No. 5; Photos) Based on analysis of historic aerials, the Rosewood Park splash pad was constructed between 2003 and 2006 on the site of the 1955 wading pool. The splash pad features several water features installed in a concrete slab foundation. Playscape and Gaga Pit (Resource No. 9; Photos 12) The playscape east of the swimming pool complex was installed between 1985 and 2004 at the location of the original 1930s playground. The playscape features plastic playground equipment and a mulch ground covering that is refreshed periodically. The octagonal Gaga Pit is comprised of walls of hortizontal wood boards joined with riveted metal plates at the seams. Picnic Tables (Resource Nos. 28-40) Thirteen concrete picnic tables on concrete slabs are located in clusters throughout the park: southwest of the path south of the Tennis Courts and Swimming Pool (2), east of the east parking lot (2), along the pathways north and east of the east parking lot (5), north of the north parking lot (2), and west of the Restroom Pavilion (2). Murals (Resource Nos. 21 and 22) The park features two murals painted through the Totally Cool Totally Art (TCTA) program in 2017 on the east-facing sides of two shipping containers located west of the south Baseball Diamond (Resource No. 20). The mural on the south container (Resource No. 21) features a bold central message—“Lift Your Voice”—rendered in large, stylized block letters with warm gradients of yellow, orange, and pink against a blue background that resembles stained glass. Flanking the text are two portrait paintings. On the left is a woman at a mircophone who resembles the performer Tina Turner. On the right is a portrait of a mustached man at a vintage microphone. The mural on the north container (Resource No. 22) centers on the phrase “Totally Cool Equality @ Rosewood,” in large lettering that stretches across the container’s width. Behind the text, a pattern of geometric shapes in soft blues, whites, and muted pastels forms a mosaic-like background. At both ends of the mural are portrait illustrations rendered primarily in grayscale. On the left is the likeness of the African American female pilot Bessie Coleman wearing a cap emblazoned with “Rosewood.” The portrait on the right depicts the African American baseball player Jackie Robinson in the act of swinging a bat. Chestnut Community Center (Resource No. 40) The Chestnut Community Center is a rectangular-plan building constucted between 2009 and 2012 to replace an older community center (built between 1965-1976) in the northwest section of the park. The concrete masonry unit building features a front gabled roof clad in standing seam metal. The roof extension over the west elevation supported by two cylindrical concrete columns creates a full-width porch. Primary egress is via two sets of double-door entries set evenly apart in the west façade. Page 15 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Covered Pavilion (Resource No. 17) The open-sided V-shaped pavilion is located at the south edge of the terrace to the south of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center (Resource No. 2). The structure features a flat metal-clad roof supported by timber posts. Maintenance Shed (Resource No. 4) The maintenance shed is a rectangular-plan, gable-roofed structure with walls of chain-link-live fencing attached to a frame of cylindrical metal posts. The building houses Integrity Rosewood Neighborhood Park retains a high degree of integrity. The topography and location of the original park, the Delores Duffie Recreation Center, Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium and other programming features have remained unchanged. Although many renovations and updates have been implemented, the main exterior materials of the Delores Duffie Recreation Center, Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium, bandstand, stone stair and retaining walls, baseball field elements, and 1930s pool house remain original. Both the recreation center and auditorium have been updated and have additions. The playground, restroom pavilion, and facilities house are new, and the Henry Green Madison house was moved to the park from its original location. The parking lots have been updated. Rosewood Neighborhood Park remains a community center, with an active schedule of classes, recreation activities and events. Despite the area’s shifting demographics, Rosewood Neighborhood Park remains a centrally located valuable public amenity in the East Austin. Page 16 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Statement of Significance The site of Rosewood Neighborhood Park encompasses 17 contributing resources that convey the property’s development as a recreation and gathering area for African American Austinites. The park’s prominence as and multigenerational fixture of the African American community has endured for almost a century; it is currently maintained by the surrounding community and the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department. Over the course of its existence, the land on which Rosewood Park is sited has been an integral point of trade and occupation by Indigenous groups, a place where European immigrants grew their wealth and families, a haven where freedman communities converged and developed into a predominant African American neighborhood and center for culture because, and in spite of, segregationist policies of the Jim Crow era. Rosewood Neighborhood Park meets National Register Criterion A in the areas of Ethnic Heritage: Black, Recreation/Entertainment, and Social History at the local level of significance for its association with the following historical trends: • The development of the park as a segregated Black space in Austin after the implementation of the 1928 City Plan. • The park’s development as a community hub and site of recreation, entertainment, education, and activism opportunities in support of African American community development, life, and well-being during the Jim Crow Era. • The Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium’s emergence as a social hub for African American World War II soldiers, transition to a premier venue in the city on the Chitlin’ Circuit, and ongoing use as a community and recreation center in Black East Austin. • Emergence and maintenance of the park as the city’s preeminent gathering space for annual Juneteenth celebrations The period of significance for the park is 1929-1974. The period of significance starts when the park opened in 1929. The end of the period is 1974, the date of the Henry Green Madison Cabin’s designation as a landmark following its relocation to the park the previous year. Over the course of those decades, the land which Rosewood Neighborhood Park occupies developed from a suburban homestead to a municipal park, following trends in Austin’s physical, social, political, and demographic development. The Site Prior to 1928 Pre-European Settlement The site that was established as Austin, Texas, and Rosewood Park had a longer history of Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo occupation before being designated the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1839. The earliest known settlement of the east Austin area now contained in Rosewood Park was by the Coahuiltecan people in the 1600s.14 As North America was colonized by Europeans, Indigenous peoples across the continent were systematically removed from their land. In the resulting migration, noted Indigenous researcher Amy Heath estimates that East Austin specifically was inhabited by Jumano, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Lipan Apache, and Tonkawa , peoples.15 Their presence on the land is attributed to an extensive trail network that ran from Natchitoches Parish in Louisiana, through Austin, and down to Mexico City. This trail, that the Spanish later called El Camino Real de los Tejas, was established by different native communities and presented an opportunity to travel and trade across the southernmost part of the 14 Amy Heath, “The El Camino Real de los Tejas,” To Relate, published by Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, February 2, 1953, accessed July 13, 2023, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/4a3a81d1e8a44da1bc28a0f3df0f679f?item=4. 15 Heath, “The El Camino Real de los Tejas.” Page 17 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas North American continent. As more Europeans immigrated to the region, Indigenous communities were forced to relocate from their established homes. The networks they created were then used by the new European occupants. While no cultural resources dating to pre-European settlement have been identified in Rosewood Park, it is important to recognize that Indigenous tribes made this land their home. The indigenous communities that occupied this land established trade patterns between one another of Spanish goods, guns, and horses for hundreds of years. These patterns expanded later in the 1830 to expand a relationship between the Native Americans and Texas soldiers at Fort Colorado. Founding of Austin and Early Settlement (1839-1874) Originally settled as a small village on the Colorado River called Waterloo by a handful of Anglo pioneers, Austin was named the capital of the new Republic of Texas in 1839. A townsite was platted, surveyed, and laid out between present-day Shoal and Waller Creeks under the direction of Edwin Waller. The land east of the new townsite was part of the eastern outlots (Rosewood Park is situated in Outlot 59, Division B) (Figure 1). Although grants of this vast property were made, the land remained undeveloped until the 1850s with the exception of a few far-flung homesteads. At the 1850 census, the land that includes present-day Rosewood Park was owned by Heinrich Dietrich Bohls; his neighbors were original patentees Benjamin Grumbles and James Webb.16 In the decades before the Civil War before the European settlers, primarily from Germany, began nuclear ethnic and familial clusters across central Texas as a result of the efforts of the Adelsverein, or the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas and the effect of political and social revolutions on Central Europe.17 Several of those clusters migrated to the Austin area, particularly at the conclusion of the Civil War, and settled along Boggy Creek. These settlers were not part of the demographic looking to make a fresh start in Texas, rather they were continuing the efforts of settlers who came before them. The trade-based agriculture they practiced in Germany had already been established previously by early settlers and Indigenous communities in Texas; they used those networks to establish livelihoods for generations. The Boggy Creek area appealed to these German families because it was part of the Black Land Prairies, a tract of fertile land 16 Republic of Texas to Ezekiel Hairston, deed, February 10, 1846, Deed Book B, page 247, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Ezekiel Hairston to B. D. Brassford, deed, January 2, 1846, Deed Book C, page 163, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; B. D. Brassford to Ashford B. McGill, deed, August 1, 1846, Deed Book C, page 163, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Ashford B. McGill to Heinrich Dietrich Bohls, deed, December 10, 1847,Deed Book C, page 163, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Heinrich Dietrich Bohls and Anna Bohls to John J. Studor, deed, October 11, 1858, Deed Book M, pages 507-508, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Nicholas Weiland and Anna Bohls Weiland to John J. Studor, deed and release, February 16, 1870, Deed Book T, page 55, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; John J. Studor to Rosina Kupfer, deed, January 30, 1872, Deed Book W, page 393, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; John J. Studor to Rudolph Bertram, deed, December 3, 1874, Deed Record 28, pages 464-466, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; John J. Studor to Rudolph Bertram, right of way, June 4, 1875, Deed Book 30, pages 97-98, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Rosina Barbara Studor Kupfer, et. al. to Bertha Bertram, deed, February 21, 1883, Deed Book 56, page 22, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Probate no. 1554, Probate Book S, pages 108- 110, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Julia O. Bertram, Emmy and Charles Huppertz, Doris and W. J. Miller vs. H. W. and Agnes Moeller, cause no. 13,786, January 4, 1898, District Court of Travis County Records; Doris Miller to Emmie Huppertz, deed, August 19, 1903, Deed Book 205, page 513, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Henry O. Wheat to Emmie Huppertz and Doris Miller, deed, Deed Book 205, page 511, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Partition of Julia Bertram Wheat estate, probate no. 2640, November 25, 1905, Probate Book 23, pages 23-36, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Probate Records; Doris and W. J. Miller to Emmie Huppertz, deed, June 22, 1914, Deed Book 277,page 620, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records; Emmie Bertram Huppertz to City of Austin, deed, August 8, 1928, Deed Book 417, pages 599-560, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records. 17 Terry G. Jordan, “Germans,” Handbook of Texas Online, published by the Texas State Historical Association, accessed July 13, 2023, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/germans; Glen E. Lich, The German Texans, revised edition (San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, 1996); Kenneth Hafertepe, The Material Culture of the German Texans, first edition (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2016). Page 18 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas spanning from North Central Texas to present day Travis county. This land afforded them the opportunity to continue the agricultural economy from Germany without the risk of entering contracts with landowners interested in share cropping.5 Boggy Creek had added value of being close in proximity to the longstanding trade route El Camino Real de los Tejas and to Fort Colorado. One of the early German families who took advantage of early property development east of the Austin townsite was that of Heinrich Dietrich Bohls who immigrated to Texas from Oldenburg, Germany in 1844.18 Bohls acquired the 40 acres comprising Outlot 59 in Division B on December 10, 1847.19 Heinrich and his wife Anna established the land as their homestead; a farmer, Bohls also raised cattle.20 The Bohls home and associated outbuildings probably consisted of simple cedar log cabins21 (Figure #2). The Bohlses were part of the wave of European immigrants making their way to Texas. It is reported that from the 1840s to the 1880s the number of German and German Americans living in the Austin area grew to make Europeans the largest ethnic group in Travis County.22 Having decided to relocate to western Travis County with Austin’s growth, the Bohlses sold the property to Swiss immigrant John J. Studor on October 11, 1858; the transaction included various “improvements and appurtenances.”23 The uptick in German immigrants from Germany and across North American to Texas also drew German-speaking Swiss to the region. Germans were outpaced in westward expansion by Anglo Americans, but they trended towards establishing tight knit, generational communities.24 These communities also included ethnically German people from Switzerland who were privy to the exchange of information across the continent. Studor cultivated half of the property which was valued at $1500.00 in 1860, growing small quantities of wheat and oats that was likely to sustain his family as well as the horse and five milk cows that comprised his livestock.25 Otherwise, agricultural activity on the property would have sustained Studor’s profession as a gardener.26 Studor, a bachelor, remained on the property through the Civil War. His sister Rosina resided with him; when she married fellow Swiss immigrant Gottlieb T. S. Kupfer in 1860, the couple remained in residence. Their neighbors included several German-speaking families from Nassau and Tanrow, Germany; Prussia; and Switzerland as well as settlers from other parts of the southeast US.27 German-speaking immigrants established post-war generational wealth from the uptick in railroad settlement and the collapse of the chattel slavery economy. Railroad companies building alongside existing travel and trade routes recruited European immigrants, particularly those from German-speaking countries, as they entered the country in Galveston and New Orleans. The arrival of the Houston & Texas Central Railway in Austin in 1871 contributed to the increase of the city’s European immigrant population, especially within the original townsite. The eastern outlots, 18 Elaine Perkins, A Hill Country Paradise?: Travis County and Its Early Settlers (Bloomington: iUniverse, Inc., 2012), 3. 19 Ashford B. McGill to Heinrich Dietrich Bohls, deed, Deed BookC, page 163, Travis County Deed Records, Travis County Clerk. 20 Bohls registered the cattle brand “CB” on November 7, 1854. Perkins, A Hill Country Paradise, 3. 21 These cabins would have been similar, if not identical, to the extant cabins and outbuildings on the Bohls’ western Travis County property at the confluence of Little Barton Creek and Barton Creek (4301 Spanish Oaks Club Blvd., Austin, Texas) or the Henry Green Madison cabin currently (Resource #15) located in Rosewood Park. Perkins, A Hill Country Paradise, 3-5; 22Terry G. Jordan “A Century and a Half of Ethnic Change in Texas, 1836-1986.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 89, no. 4 (1986): 385–422, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30239930. 23 Heinrich Dietrich Bohls and Anna Bohls to John J. Studor, Deed Book M, pages 507-508, Travis County Deed Records, Travis County Clerk. With the sale of the outlot 59 property, the Bohlses acquired property in and relocated to Bee Cave in current West Austin; see note 21. 24 Terry G. Jordan “The German Settlement of Texas after 1865.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 73, no. 2. Pg 209. (1969): 193–212, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30236570. 25 U.S. Federal Census Non-population Schedules, Texas, 1850-1880, Record Group Number 29, Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007, courtesy Ancestry.com. 26 Studor’s profession is indicated in the 1870 census. 27 1860 United States Federal Census, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group Number 29, Series Number M653, Roll M653_1306, page 264, courtesy Ancestry.com. Page 19 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas however, saw an increased population of skilled and professional white heads of household (such as carpenters Washington Norton and Martin Porterfield or retired soldier and former soldier, turned politician and gentleman farmer Benjamin Grumbles) and recently emancipated African Americans. By the 1870 census, the Studor-Kupfer household’s German neighbors had moved on to be replaced by freedmen who had been previously enslaved in Austin and the surrounding counties or relocated to Austin in the search of opportunity and family. A small enclave of African American families headed by Benjamin Cleveland, Abraham Tennan, Henry Bohedan [sic], and Benjamin Franklin were the Studors’ immediate neighbors. All of these freedmen, and their eldest sons, were field laborers or farmers.28 Bertram-Huppertz Homestead (1874-1928) One German family to whom the eastern outlots remained appealing was the Bertram-Huppertz family who established roots on the site of present-day Rosewood Park in 1874. Rudolph Bertram was a first-generation German immigrant who arrived in Austin in shortly after it was named the capital of Texas (Figure 3). There he met and married his wife, Bertha Krohn; the two went on to have eight children together (Figure 4). During his life in Austin, Bertram grew his family’s wealth by not only helping develop the rail system through the city but also owning and operating a general merchandise store marketplace where goods and services could be exchanged by all. His business became a fixture in Austin’s commercial, social, and political life and his wealth increased accordingly.29 On December 3, 1874, Bertram acquired 5 1/6 acres of Outlot 59 from John J. Studor (Figure 5) Bertram moved from his property in downtown Austin to the former Studer homestead with his wife Bertha and their children Agnes, Emma, Doris, Jennie, Rudolph, and Dulce. They initially lived in a frame house that was already on the property. Bertram commissioned English architect Joseph Sherwin, who also drew some plans for the renovation of the State Capitol building, to design a two-story masonry home.30 Built in 1875 on the highest elevation of the site (away from the Boggy Creek flood plain and to accommodate natural onsite drainage), the stacked limestone masonry house accommodated the Bertram family as they evolved in their new homeplace. Daughter Julia was born in 1876, and eldest daughter Agnes married H. W. Moeller in 1878. Sadly, daughters Jennie and Dulce died from diphtheria in 1879. At the 1880 census, the household consisted of Bertram and Agnes along with children Doris, Rudolph, and Julia.31 Unfortunately, Rudolph died later that year. While the area remained a rural one of suburban farmsteads, in the early 1880s, the Austin and Northwestern Railroad arrived in Austin through the eastern outlots. Sometime in 1881 or 1882 Studer sold a 100-foot-wide right-of-way to the rail company for the routing of the tracks through Outlot 59 (Figure 6). In 1883, J. J. Studor’s heirs—his sister Rosina Studor Kupfer and others—sold the remaining 34.5 acres out of Outlot 59 to Bertha Bertram.32 The next year, the Bertrams’ daughter Emma married Charles Huppertz; the newlyweds remained in her parents’ household. The Bertram family continue to change with the birth of the Huppertz children and marriage of Doris Bertram to William Johann Miller in 1887. Bertha Krohn Bertram died in 1890; Rudolph Bertram in 1892. By the time of his passing in 1892, Bertram had amassed enough capital to own and operate a successful business, establish a township in his surname, and—with wife Bertha—acquire the almost the entirety of Outlot 59. The future 28 1870 United States Federal Census, National Archives and Records Administration, Roll M593_1606, page 237B, courtesy Ancestry.com. 29 Bertram’s family lived at the northwest corner of Cherry (present-day West 16th Street) and Lavaca Streets while the business was located on the other end of the block at the northeast corner of Cherry and Guadalupe Streets; the store is currently occupied by the Clay Pit Restaurant (1601 Guadalupe Street). 30 “‘A Question of Great Delicacy’: The Texas Capitol Competition, 1881,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 92, no. 2 (October 1988): 247-270, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30240072. 31 Emma may have been away at school. 32 Rosina Barbara Studor Kupfer, et. al. to Bertha Bertram, deed, February 21, 1883, Deed Book 56, page 22, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records. Page 20 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas site of Rosewood Park was inherited by three of the Bertrams’ four surviving daughters: Doris Miller, Emma (called Emmy) Huppertz, and Julia O. Bertram (Figure 7).33 Probate and civil records indicate that the two married Bertram sisters directly inherited from their father, and the properties was not deeded in their husband’s names, which was uncharacteristic for the time (Figure 8). In June 1903, Julia Bertram married Dr. Henry O. Wheat but tragically died two months later. Upon her death, Julia’s portion of the Outlot 59 was divided among her three sisters (Figure 9). Emmy Huppertz retained just over 15 acres of the familial land, including the family homestead that her parents had developed.34 She and her husband Charles Huppertz lived in the house and raised their family there. While the three Bertram sisters retained ownership of Outlot 59 for several decades, Doris Miller was an absentee property owner since she and her husband resided in Runnels County then later in Kechi, Kansas (Sedgwick County).35 Doris began to dissolve her section of the estate into smaller lots for single-family development. The lots were predominantly acquired by African Americans who had continued to move into the area after Reconstruction and into the twentieth century. The number of Emmy and Charles Huppertz's African American neighbors is apparent from the recordings of the 1910 and 1920 census (Figure 10). The Black families along Boggy Creek, north of present-day Rosewood Avenue, essentially formed the western edge of the expanded Robertson Hill freedom colony. Emmy Bertram Huppertz survived her husband by thirty years (he died in 1921), living in her family home until she sold the property to the City of Austin in 1928.36 Context of Segregation and Public Spaces in Austin Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, public spaces in Austin, Texas—like those across the South—were shaped by systems of racial segregation that excluded African Americans from many municipal facilities or relegated them to separate and unequal accommodations. These practices were reinforced through both formal municipal policies and informal customs that structured access to parks, recreation facilities, and swimming pools. As in many American cities, the development of public recreation in Austin occurred during the height of Jim Crow segregation, meaning that investments in parks and leisure infrastructure often replicated broader patterns of racial inequality in urban planning and public policy. In Texas, segregation in public accommodations—including parks, swimming pools, and other recreational facilities— was maintained well into the mid-twentieth century. Municipal officials commonly justified segregated facilities as a means of avoiding interracial contact in spaces associated with leisure and bodily proximity, such as swimming pools. As historians have noted, swimming pools in particular became highly contested civic spaces during the Jim Crow era because of widespread white fears surrounding interracial contact and perceived threats to social boundaries. These anxieties led many cities to exclude African Americans entirely from municipal pools or to create separate facilities that were significantly inferior in size, funding, and maintenance. By the early twentieth century, segregation in recreational spaces had become an entrenched feature of urban governance across Texas, including Austin, where African American residents were frequently denied access to amenities available in white neighborhoods.37 33 Julia O. Bertram, Emmy and Charles Huppertz, Doris and W. J. Miller vs. H. W. and Agnes Moeller, cause no. 13,786, District Court of Travis County. 34 She acquired another 2.97 acres from her sister Doris in 1903. 35 1900 United States Federal Census, National Archives and Records Administration, Roll 1667, page 3, courtesy Ancestry.com ; death certificate. 36 Emmie sold two acres to Gustav Frithiof before selling the remainder to the city in August 1928. See note 16. 37 See Bruce A. Glasrud and Debbie M. Liles, editors, African Americans in Central Texas History: From Slavery to Civil Rights (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2019) and Jeff Wiltse, Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007). . Page 21 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas The broader national history of public swimming pools illustrates why recreational segregation was especially significant. During the early twentieth century, American cities increasingly constructed large municipal pools as symbols of civic pride, public health, and democratic leisure. However, as these pools grew larger and more popular in the 1910s and 1920s, many municipalities adopted strict racial exclusions in order to maintain white control over these spaces. Across the United States—and particularly in the South—African Americans were barred from most municipal pools, prompting either the construction of separate facilities or the redirection of Black recreation to alternative locations such as rivers, creeks, or smaller segregated pools.38 National Register documentation for historic swimming facilities in Texas similarly notes that segregation shaped the planning and operation of municipal pools throughout the state, with separate recreational infrastructure frequently established in African American neighborhoods as part of segregated park systems.39 Within this broader context, Austin’s system of segregated parks and recreational facilities reflected the city’s racial geography and political priorities during the Jim Crow era. African American communities—concentrated largely in East Austin as a result of discriminatory planning policies and the city’s 1928 plan that institutionalized racial zoning—had limited access to the city’s recreational amenities. Public parks in white neighborhoods were typically better funded and maintained, while facilities designated for African American residents were fewer and often developed later. The establishment of recreational spaces such as Rosewood Park emerged within this segregated municipal framework, representing both the constraints imposed by Jim Crow policies and the importance of dedicated community spaces within African American neighborhoods.40 Rosewood Park’s significance when it was first developed was noted by Mayor Tom Miller who “declare[d] that Rosewood park is the only park for negroes in Austin and is designed for the free entertainment of all the negro citizens.”41 The City of Austin’s segregation policy sought to avoid prosecution, providing separate but equal amenities in “an attempt by the city to satisfy its white citizenry with segregation while protecting itself from” demonstrations or litigation.42 Although facilities in segregated public spaces like Rosewood Park were often substandard compared to those at white spaces, Black Austinites traveled great distances to enjoy them. One Black Austinite noted that in 1945, East Austin “was the best place…where Blacks could live… In St. Johns, we used to swim in a creek. The same was true in Clarksville [and] South Austin. If you wanted to swim in a swimming pool, you had to come to Rosewood Park.”43 The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s brought increasing challenges to segregated public accommodation across Texas. Activists and community leaders organized legal challenges, demonstrations, and negotiations aimed at dismantling discriminatory access to parks, swimming pools, and other municipal facilities. While federal civil rights legislation and court rulings eventually forced the desegregation of public accommodations, many cities—including those in Texas—initially resisted integration or temporarily closed facilities rather than permit interracial use. These conflicts highlight the significance of public recreational spaces as sites of both exclusion and activism during the struggle for civil rights.44 38 See Wiltse, Contested Waters and Jeff Wiltse, “Swimming Pools, Civic Life, and Social Capital,” in A Companion to Sport: Contested Space and Politics, edited by David L. Andrews and Ben Carrington (West Sussex: Willey-Blackwell, 2013). 39 See Janet Vermillion Moos, et. al., “Social History of Public Swimming Pools,” in Texas Pool, National Register of Historic Places nomination form, March 2018. 40 See Glasrud and Liles, African Americans in Central Texas History and Martin Kuhlman, The Civil Rights Movement in Texas: Desegregation of Public Accommodations, 1950-1964, master’s thesis, Texas Tech University, 1994. 41 “Board Unable to Secure Ground for Negro Field,” Austin American, December 17, 1938. 42 Kulhman, The Civil Rights Movement in Texas, 128. 43 East Austin resident quoted by author. Robena Estelle Jackson, “East Austin: A Socio-Historical View of a Segregated Community,” master’s thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, 1973, 86. 44 See Kuhlman, The Civil Rights Movement in Texas and Moos, et. al., “Social History of Public Swimming Pools.” Page 22 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Together, these patterns illustrate how segregation shaped the development, use, and meaning of public recreational spaces in Austin during the first half of the twentieth century. Facilities established in African American neighborhoods, including Rosewood Park, must therefore be understood within the broader historical framework of segregated municipal planning, unequal distribution of public resources, and the eventual civil rights struggle to secure equal access to public space. The Establishment of Rosewood Park (1929-1940) The 1928 Austin City Plan In 1927, the Austin City Council commissioned the Dallas-based engineering firm Koch and Fowler to assess and make recommendations to provide separate but equal government facilities and amenities (schools, parks, sanitation services, etc.) for different racial populations of Austin. Though these practices had been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in an earlier 1917 ruling, the city council thought it best practice to move to follow cultural and social trends of racial segregation while incorporating a desire to develop a foundation for city planning and zoning, redesign the city following features of the City Beautiful Movement, and address infrastructural issues like transportation and sanitation. In the resulting document, A City Plan for Austin, Texas (commonly known as the 1928 City Plan), Koch and Fowler determined that too many small and decentralized Black populations across Austin for the City to reasonably afford to outfit them all with segregated services.45 These decentralized communities within the city limits of that time—Wheatville, Clarksville, Robertson Hill, Masontown, and Gregorytown—were the freedman communities that emerged after the end of the Civil War (Figure 11). Koch and Fowler noted that the largest population of Black Austinites was east of East Avenue (present-day Interstate Highway 35) and south of the City Cemetery (Oakwood Cemetery)—essentially the Robertson Hill, Masontown, and Gregorytown neighborhoods (Figure 12). This led them to determine that this area, which included Outlot 59, would be the best location for the City of Austin to centralize all Black residents along with the requisite city services. Neighborhoods outside of the “negro district” would not receive services such as water service, electricity, and paved streets. Black city-operated schools and libraries outside of the district were slated to close. Other smaller, existing parks like Pease Park and Wheeler’s Grove, currently open to if not welcoming of Black Austinites, would no longer be accessible. This forced removal of Black communities, and their successful isolation across East Avenue upended generations of community investment and generational capital.46 “In 1930, the population of Austin was 18.6% African American compared to 14.7% African American statewide, and the African American population was dispersed throughout the City of Austin. City records indicate the majority of African Americans moved to East Austin by 1932 with most residing between 7th and 12th Streets.”47 Even after the work of the later Civil Rights movement, many of the Black families and communities that existed in Austin before the 1928 City Plan never fully recovered. Instead in their place, new homes and commercial developments were made by white Austinites. This increased not only physical segregation between white and Black Austinites, but also a financial separation between the two groups. The result of this disparity can be seen in the wealth gap between Black and white Austinites to this day. Early Development of Rosewood Park Koch and Fowler recommended that the park for Black Austinites be located “in the vicinity of Eleventh and Twelfth Streets just east of the I&GN Railroad.” While Rosewood Park was ultimately established north of Twelfth Street and west of the railroad tracks, the plan identified the general vicinity.48 The city selected the Bertram-Huppertz estate for 45 Koch and Fowler, A City Plan for Austin, Texas (Dallas: Koch and Fowler, 1928; repr., Austin: Department of Planning, 1957). 46 “Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 2-3, PARD. 47 “Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 3. 48 “Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 3. Page 23 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas its centralized location within the already-established Black community and availability. On July 18, 1928, Civil Engineer M. P. Homeyer surveyed the Bertram-Huppertz property; two days later Emmie Bertram Huppertz sold 13.394 acres to the City of Austin for the creation of “Rosewood Avenue Park and Playground for the Colored.”49 On the new park property, the City established infrastructure and set aside resources from the municipal and federal governments allocated for the Rosewood neighborhood. As part of this effort, the City planned to immediately convert the former Bertram-Huppertz home into a clubhouse and add a swimming pool, baseball fields, locker rooms, tennis courts, and other amenities to the grounds. The Austin American reported: The old home of eight rooms will be used as a club house and bath house by the city. The home is one of the oldest in the city and has rock walls 24 inches in thickness. The property adjoins the old Gov. Hamilton homestead and is only one and one-half blocks from the new Samuel Huston stadium. The city plans to construct a swimming pool on the property.50 Black leaders, including dentist Dr. E. H. Givens, who were active members of the Negro Citizen’s Council played a major role in the creation and continued development of Rosewood Park. This work was done in conjunction with the Work Projects Administration (WPA). This federal agency was a biproduct of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation that sought to employ out-of-work Americans in the wake of the Great Depression. With the labor of federally funded workers, Rosewood Park, like thousands of other sites across the country, was built by local contractors, architects, and engineers to be the center of Austin’s Black recreational life. While construction was ongoing, the Austin Recreation Department opened a “Negro Park” on the grounds of Tillotson College in May 1929 along with the opening of the department’s seven original parks.51 When Rosewood Park opened in 1930, it featured a clubhouse, one or two baseball diamonds, playground equipment, and wading/swimming pool; site and infrastructural improvements included a water system, picnic tables and plantings.52 One of the most important features of any public park in Texas is the swimming pool; it is an absolute necessity to beat the Texas heat. The pool at Rosewood opened on May 21, 1930. To commemorate the event, the men’s and women’s baseball teams played various games throughout the day at the park’s new baseball fields. Later in the evening, there was a swim meet to break in the new pool. Local church choirs sang and city officials, including the mayor and important African American officials, spoke at the opening.53 The Bertram-Huppertz family homestead was kept intact on the site with interior modifications and a one-story locker room rear addition accommodating its function new function as the park clubhouse (Figure 4). The city elected to repurpose part of the building as the home of the park groundskeeper. The first groundskeeper was a man named George Mabson. Mabson was hired in 1929; during the first year of his tenure, Mr. Mabson, his wife Helen Stanton Mason, and a part-time assistant were responsible for the park’s programming and operation.54 Rosewood Park quickly became the focal point of African American gatherings in the city and a key fixture of the community. Juneteenth celebrations began happening as early as 1930.55 In November 1930, city records about 49 Emmie Bertram Huppertz to City of Austin, deed, August 8, 1928, Deed Book 417, pages 599-560, Travis County Clerk, Travis County Deed Records . 50 “Option Given On Swimming Pool,” The Austin American, July 6, 1928, 14. 51 “ Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 3-4. 52 Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 1; “City Budget for Parks Approved,” The Austin American, April 4, 1930, 10; “Gubbels to Tell of Parks Work,” The Austin American, June 4, 1930, 3. 53 “Rosewood Opener To Attract Many,” The Austin Statesman, June 2, 1930, 2. 54 “Veteran Leader: Negro Recreation Plan Grows Under Mabson,” Austin American-Statesman, March 10, 1954, 17. 55 “ Rosewood Park,” unpublished narrative, 6. Page 24 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Rosewood Park noted “this is the first time that any attempt has been made to offer recreation to the colored people during the fall and winter months. A room upstairs has been turned into a game room. The room is opened in the afternoons and early evenings. Tables and chairs have been provided.”56 In 1932, the city’s most prominent annual Juneteenth celebration was moved from Emancipation Park (site of the Rosewood Courts housing project) to Rosewood Park.57 Juneteenth at Rosewood was a three-day event that was filled with activities from dawn till dusk. Attendees enjoyed sports ranging from swimming to baseball to tennis. All-day events included potluck picnics in the afternoon and a social dance for young people at night. The most anticipated event was the parade down Rosewood Avenue with reenactors dressed as Buffalo Soldiers, beauty pageant queens, and more. As the park grew in significance, the celebrations continued to grow more and more elaborate, with tens of thousands of African Americans from Austin and from various parts of central Texas taking part in the celebration.58 This tradition continues to this day, with a similar combination of parades, food, and fun. The opening of the summer park season was celebrated with elaborate fetes such as when the May Day opening in 1935 featured Maypole dances led by youth from Gregory School.59 Athletic events took place throughout the year on park grounds. As East Austin’s Black population grew, the celebrations at and use of the park increased. The park’s popularity led to some needed improvements early on. In 1933, the Negro Citizen’s Council requested $5000 worth of renovations, including fencing, tennis courts, lighting system, driveway entrance, widening of bridge at Rosewood Avenue and Chestnut Street, wading pool for children, recreation building repairs, and a secondary driveway entrance at Twelfth Street as well as other amenities (walkways, rustic bridges, barbeque pits, tables and benches, drinking fountains).60 The City deferred action on this request, but many of the projects were completed over the course of the decade. Renovations at Rosewood Park went on for the better part of the decade, many of them funded via federal programs in addition to municipal resources. In early 1934, Civil Works Administration (CWA) crews built two footbridges, a flagstone walk, and monumental stone stairs extending from the west side of clubhouse down toward the baseball fields (Figure 4, Photo 19), rock entrance columns (Figure 15), an additional shower bath, and an addition to the clubhouse.61 The work came to a halt in March 1934 when the CWA was dropped workmen from its roles, but was ultimately completed under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).62 Later that spring, appropriations from the City’s general fund and water and light fund were allocated for: installation of additional light was added at the swimming pool; installation of floodlights at the baseball field, playground, and bandstand; surfacing the entrance driveway with asphalt; acquisition of materials for CWA work in the park; repair and repainting woodwork in the clubhouse; remodeling and painting the concession stand; • • • • • • • painting the bandstand; 56 “A Living Legacy,” 5. 57 “Juneteenth to Be Observed Monday,” Austin American-Statesman, June 19, 1932, 3. 58 “10,000 Negroes Swarm To Park for Celebration,” The Austin Statesman, Jun 19, 1947, 1. 59 “650 Negro Children to Take Part in Fete,” Austin American-Statesman, April 29, 1935, 1. 60 “City Defers Action On Rosewood Improvement,” The Austin American, July 22, 1933, 6. 61 “160 More to Get CWA Work Here,” Austin American-Statesman, January 6, 1934, 1; “3 City Projects Halted by CWA,” The Austin American, March 29, 1934, 7. 62 “3 City Projects Halted”; “City Hopes to Get Projects in FERA,” Austin American-Statesman, April 10, 1934, 10; “City to Spend $4700 on Parks,” Austin American-Statesman, April 12, 1934, 1. Page 25 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas • • • • • addition of a drinking fountain on the west side of the park; repairs to the gallery, basement door, window screens, and plaster at the clubhouse; construction of a backstop for the baseball diamond; construction of double showers and a drinking fountain nears the swimming pool; and addition to the locker room at the clubhouse.63 $4,700 appropriation for city parks and playgrounds with $2000 for Rosewood: • asphalt topping for driveway entrance • additional lighting at swimming pool • floodlights for playground baseball • lights at bandstand • recreation center repairs and painting • painting concession stand and bandstand • construction of water fountain on the west side of the park64 Braswell and Nelson constructed the locker room addition which featured installation of drinking fountains and showers (Figure 16).65 During the summer, the gravel driveway in the park extending from Rosewood Avenue to the clubhouse was topped with asphalt.66 “Two tennis courts for Rosewood playground are needed.”67 Improvements noted at the end of the month: erection of a baseball backstop lighting of playground baseball diamond • • • building of additional dressing rooms • gravelling of park driveway • building of five outdoor ovens and picnic sites • painting of the bandstand • woodwork on the community house68 “A new recreation building costing $30,000 and two tennis courts are suggested at Rosewood Park for negroes.”69 In 1936, the pool underwent “an extensive remodeling and enlargement program” that doubled its size and included addition of a wading pool as well as installation of a water filtering system.70 The project resulted in a late start to the 63 “$4691 Fund Given 19 Park Projects,” The Austin American, April 13, 1934, 7. 64 “City to Spend $4700 on Parks,” Austin American-Statesman, April 12, 1934, 1. 65 “Building Slumps Here With $3743 in Permits,” The Austin American, May 6, 1934, 14. 66 “Guadalupe Paving Strip is Completed,” Austin American-Statesman, June 12, 1934, 2. 67 “Playgrounds to Get Attention,” Austin Statesman, February 1, 1935, 12. 68 “Playground Cost Put at 2.9 a Person,” Austin American-Statesman, February 28, 1935, 6. 69 “Improvement of Parks is Sought,” The Austin American, May 24, 1935, 3. 70 “City to Dress Up for Centennial: Improvements Scheduled for Austin,” Austin American-Statesman, May 17, 1936, 4; “Swimmers at Rosewood Park pool,” photograph, 1936, accessed March 9, 2026), https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth124624/, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library; Bureau of Identification Photographic Lab, “Rosewood Park swimming pool,” photograph, May 19, 1936, accessed March 9, 2026, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth124583/, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. Page 26 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas swimming season; the pool opened on June 19, but pool attendance for the rest of the season totaled 73,155 visitors.71 (Figures 17, 18, & 19). That fall, the City made plans to construct hard-surfaced tennis courts and a basketball court, all surrounded by a concrete retaining wall.72 In 1939, improvements included a new limestone bandstand north of the clubhouse (Figure 20) as well as construction of walks and driveways; the latter were built by men employed with funds from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.73 Rosewood Park’s Role in Black East Austin During Jim Crow (1941-1961) During the 1940s and 1950s, Austin offered African American children and youth limited places for outdoor recreation, leisure, and socializing. Rosewood Park addressed the need for recreation, education, and community organization. Under the leadership of Catherine Lamkin and Novela Cabin, programs like the Youth Program, where participants could earn money and learn the job of Program Manager at Rosewood, were established.74 There was also a community band organized through Rosewood that. In line with the larger cultural “Black is Beautiful” movement, there was the annual Ms. East Austin Pageant held at Rosewood Park as early as the 1950s. Practices for this pageant were held inside Doris Miller Auditorium and then a construction crew would erect the final pageant stage on the grounds. This competition was separate from the longstanding Ms. Juneteenth Pageant that coincided with the holiday. But that too was held on Rosewood Park’s campus as were the rest of Juneteenth celebrations in East Austin. Between World War II and the height of the Civil Rights movement, Rosewood Neighborhood Park was solidified as the social and recreational hub of Black Austin. Austin Recreation Department annual reports from the decade highlighted topics such as “Easter Egg Hunt at the Rosewood Playground” (1941), “Teen-agers Find Rosewood a Happy Meeting Place” (1944), and “Activities for Every Age and Interest” (1945) (Figure 21).75 In particular, youth enjoyed dances in the basement of the clubhouse during this era (Figures 22 & 23). With the expansion of activity in the park and constant use of the former Bertram-Huppertz residence as a clubhouse and caretaker’s dwelling, it became necessary to house the park caretaker in a separate dwelling. In 1944, the City prepared plans for a “Caretaker’s House” that was constructed between the clubhouse and the bandstand (Figure 24). Built in 1944, the one-story single- family dwelling was located north of the Deloris Duffie Recreation Center; it was demolished after 1965 some time before the construction of the early 1970s addition to the recreation center. Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium The park’s importance only grew with the establishment of a segregated USO recreation center during World War II (WWII). The city recognized in 1942 that Black servicemen returning from their deployments did not have a segregated USO to utilize while in the city. In April 1942, the Austin City Council appropriated $1,500 for park improvements, including additional showers, for the benefit of visiting soldiers based on the request of a group of Black Austinites under the auspices of the Negro Citizen’s Council led by the local dentist Dr. Everett Givens.76 In an appearance before the City Council in December 1942, Dr. Givens informed the City Council, “The USO hasn’t done anything for us yet” and “thanked the council for improving Rosewood park for the better accommodation of negro 71 “Swimmers at Rosewood Park pool,” photograph; “Rosewood Park swimming pool,” photograph. 72 “Austin’s Parks Will Get Overhaul Job in Winter,” The Austin American, October 25, 1936, 2. 73 “Barton Springs Opens March 17,” Austin American-Statesman, March 11, 1939, 7; “Alert Austin Gets Large U.S. Grants for Improvements,” Austin American-Statesman, March 29, 1939, 1. 74 Pamela Patterson McKinney, interview by Tara A. Dudley, August 5, 2023, recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. 75 Karen Riles, comp., “African American Resource Guide: Sources of Information Relating to African Americans in Austin and Travis County, prepared for Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, updated December 2017, accessed February 27, 2026, https://library.austintexas.gov/library/pdf/african_american_resource_guide_current.pdf. 76 “Around the Council Table,” The Austin American, April 3, 1942, 11. Page 27 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas soldiers.”77 The proposed location of a USO in the park gained further traction after the Cotton Club, a local segregated entertainment venue, was determined inadequate.78 Initially, the USO appeared to decline the City’s proposal but, ultimately, the construction of the recreation center commenced in late summer 1943. The center was completed in March 1944.79 Designed by the Austin firm Danze and Davis Architects, AIA, the large auditorium/basketball gymnasium was outfitted with locker rooms, a stage, and concession stand. By the time the recreation center was completed in 1944, US Navy cook Doris “Dorie” Miller of Waco, Texas, had been named a national hero and the first Black serviceman to be awarded the Naval Cross for his heroism during the attack on Pearl Harbor. In his honor, the auditorium was named the Doris “Dorie” Miller Auditorium.80 Dr. Givens noted, that Black Austinites “are tremendously proud of the building and consider it one of the finest recreation centers they have ever had in Texas….”81 The new recreation hall opened on April 10, 1944.82 The USO operated activity at the center with the assistance of the USO Hostess Group; after the war, the center was turned over to the city.83 Collaboration between the City and the USO continued to offer amenities to servicemen and Black Austinites at the park until the early 1950s.84 The recreation center and auditorium quickly became an important part of the day-to-day operation of Rosewood Park. While the war was still ongoing, it was a recreation space for returning veterans and Austin community members alike. The facility took over role of Cotton Club and became premier music and entertainment venue for all of Black Austin in addition to Black soldiers.85 It hosted dances, basketball tournaments, and nationally acclaimed performers like Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. Local disk jockey and host for KTAE radio station in Taylor Texas, Tony Vaughn, is credited with bringing big band performers to Dorie Miller. His popularity across central Texas drew crowds of youth and young adults to Rosewood Park on countless evenings. Performers included legends such as James Brown, Johnny Otis, Big Momma Thorton, B.B. King, Joe Tex, and countless more. Laveda Durst continued this tradition as an employee of the Parks and Recreation Department. Other traditions, like Wednesday Movie’s on the Hill, quickly emerged as part of the park’s continuous programming.86 77 “Meters Stay in Until They’re Useless, Mayor Miller Says; Rat Proof Buildings Ordered,” The Austin American, December 4, 1942, 19. 78 “Negro Service Men’s Center at Rosewood Proposed by City to Provide Recreation,” Austin American-Statesman, May 21, 1943, 2; “City May Buy Property for Negro Center,” The Austin American, May 21, 1943, 20; “Negro Service Center Planned: City Considers Site at Rosewood Park,” The Austin American, May 22, 1943, 3; “City Officials Talk Construction Plans,” Austin American-Statesman, June 1, 1943, 3. 79 “City Dads Irked at Jury Report,” The Austin American, March 2, 1944, 2 80 “Austin Negroes Want Center Named for Pearl Harbor Hero,” The Austin American, March 8, 1944, 12. While this might seem a strange coincidence since the Bertram’s daughter and nearby property owner’s married name was Doris (Bertram) Miller, there was no subterfuge in the naming. The choice of “Dorie” versus “Doris” may also have been made to avoid confusion. 81 “Austin Negroes Want Center Named.” 82 “Rosewood Park Hall to Open Monday,” Austin American-Statesman, April 4, 1944, 5; “Negroes Open Dorie Miller Center Today,” The Austin American, April 10, 1944, 3. 83 Per articles referenced in “A Living Legacy,” 12, 13, 15: “The Victory Hostess Corps, sponsored by the Austin Negro War Recreation Council is merged with the U.S.O. Hostess Group and located at Rosewood Park” (February 1945); “Rosewood Community Center building, which has been operated by the USO for service to military personnel was returned to the City. Formal opening of center held March 30th” (March 1947). 84 Per articles references in “A Living Legacy,” 15: “A special part-time leader is hired at Rosewood Park to coordinate USO Programs for Servicemen’s Recreation” (February 1952); “A USO Certificate of Merit was received by the Director on behalf of the department for the work at Rosewood” (February 2, 1953). 85 Michael Schmidt, “East Austin Centers of Swing: The Royal Auditorium and the Cotton Club, 817 E. 11th,” Accessed February 27, 2026, https://local-memory.org/athens-on-the-colorado/narratives/east-austin-centers-of-swing. 86 Delores Duffie, interview, August 3, 2023. Page 28 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas City annual reports in the late 1940s highlighted events such as the Travis County Food and Livestock Show and annual events like the Christmas celebration.87 Travis County Negro Stock Show The Travis County Negro Stock Show was an important agricultural and community event held annually at Rosewood Park from the mid-1940s to 1953, reflecting both the agricultural traditions of African American residents in Travis County and the limited venues available to Black agricultural producers under segregation. Established during the Jim Crow era, the event provided African American farmers, ranchers, and youth an opportunity to exhibit livestock and agricultural products, participate in competitions, and demonstrate skills in animal husbandry and farming. Because African Americans were excluded from many county agricultural exhibitions and fairs, events such as the Travis County Negro Stock Show served as vital spaces for recognition, education, and community gathering. Held at Rosewood Park—Austin’s principal public recreational facility designated for African Americans—the stock show typically featured livestock judging, youth competitions, and educational programming connected to local schools and agricultural extension efforts. Students from historically Black schools in Travis County participated in the exhibition of livestock and agricultural projects, reflecting the role of vocational agriculture programs and cooperative extension services in supporting Black rural communities during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition to its agricultural focus, the event functioned as a major social occasion, drawing families and community members to the park for gatherings, demonstrations, and celebrations of local achievement. The 1946 annual report of the City’s Recreation Department noted that 5,000 people attended the show held that March.88 The Civil Rights Movement and Rosewood Park In April 1953, Rosewood Park featured a “double tennis court, swimming pool, girls’ softball field, two boys’ softball fields, a bandstand, outdoor theater, concession stand, and caretaker home.” A game center was under construction.89 The changing social political landscape of the United States in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement brought a new purpose and function to Rosewood Park. As sit-ins and marches for equality took place in city, Rosewood Park became a gathering spot for demonstrations and organizing for young adults and college students in the area. Longtime Parks and Recreation Park employee Catherine Lamkin noted that these demonstrations were frequent, sometimes occurring unplanned. Mrs. Lamkin started work at Rosewood park with George Mabson and helped the center grow into a community service for all ages.90 By the late 1950s and early 1960s, east Austin was codified as the epicenter of Black life in Austin. Rosewood Park therefore became the epicenter of intergenerational action for change. One example of this occurred on August 28, 1963.91 In response to then Governor John Connally’s opposition to the expanding federal civil rights legislation, a protest was organized by a coalition of Austin and Dallas NAACP chapters, Freedom Now Committee members, and other Austin community organizers.92 This “March for Jobs and Freedom”, 87 “Travis County Food and Livestock Show Held in Dorie Miller Auditorium in March and Attended by 5000 Persons” (1946) and “Negro Christmas at Dorie Miller Auditorium” (1947), AA Research Guide 88 Austin History Center, “ citing “Travis County Food and Livestock Show Held in Dorie Miller Auditorium in March and Attended by 5000 Persons” in the 1946 Annual Report, page 38. 89 “Rosewood Program Runs All Year,” Austin American-Statesman, April 10, 1953, 34. 90 “A Living Legacy,” 22. 91 For more on this event see Martin Kuhlman, “Texas Voice: The 1963 Civil Rights March in Austin,” in Bruce A. Glasrud and Debbie M. Liles, editors, African Americans in Central Texas History: From Slavery to Civil Rights, (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2019): 281-291. 92 KPRC-TV Houston, “March for Jobs and Freedom,” film, 1963, Texas Archive of the Moving Image, https://texasarchive.org/2019_01294; Gordon Wilkinson, “Civil Rights Demonstration in Austin,” film, 1963, Texas Archive of Page 29 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas chronicled by the Houston news station KRPC, used Dorie Miller Auditorium as the formal organizing location for the march to the capital. While there, Booker T. Bonner, a prominent civil rights activist in the Central Texas community and member of the New Freedom Committee, instructed the group of almost 4,000 participants in nonviolent protest actions that would occur along the march route from the park—west on Rosewood Avenue to East 11th Street—during the demonstrations scheduled to take place on the Texas Capitol Building south lawn, and during presentations at Wooldridge Park near to the Travis County Courthouse. Shortley before the march commenced, Houston’s KPRC-TV reported: Hundreds of demonstrators now coming out of their central gathering point here in Rosewood Park in Austin, having been briefed on how to take park in this parade. Almost all of them carrying signs, many saying “Freedom Now” others saying “NAACP All Men Are Created Equal.” This march primarily a request, a demand rather, that Negroes be given free access to all public accommodations and also a march for equal job opportunities in Texas.93 Refugee Center during hurricane evacuees. “The department’s long memory of Carla is of the refugee centers at Municipal Auditorium and Coliseum. All supervisors reported early Monday to organize recreation for the cost evacuees. Howard Norris was alerted to have Rosewood and Doris Miller Auditorium ready, and he and his staff stood by during the four-day duration but did not have to open either building.” She and the staff….94 (Figure PICA from Portal) December 1967: “A Rosewood Advisory Board was organized and officers elected. Howard Norris, supervisor of Rosewood, says the board can be of inestimable assistance to the Rosewood staff in programs, planning, financial and physical aid, and as a liaison between the general public and staff.”95 Post-Integration Development (1962-1974) Although Rosewood Park continued in use as a music and entertainment venue, policy changes within the City of Austin and affiliated government agencies began gradually in the 1960s. Park integration initiatives kicked off in 1962 with the desegregation of Emma Long Metropolitan Park. These policy changes in conjunction with thirty-years of use of facilities under the stewardship of the Austin Recreation Department called for a series of renovations in the early 1970s. Further, concerned citizens like activist Bertha Means charged the city with “inequity in distribution of appropriations” for amenities as Rosewood Park.96 At Rosewood Park the work included additions to both the Bertram-Huppertz home/clubhouse and the Dorie Miller Auditorium. The work was completed under the auspice of the Model Cities program. Austin Firm Danze & Davis began soliciting bids in December 1971.97 Canyon Construction was awarded the work for the expansion of the recreation center and Doris Miller Auditorium.98 These renovations expanded the capacity of the facilities to host more activities like art and dance classes and, at the Betram- Huppertz homestead, to serve as a more functional administrative office for park officials and staff. Additional improvements were an entrance, parking lot, and fencing. the Moving Image, https://texasarchive.org/2011_03880; Kuhlman, The Civil Rights Movement in Texas, 288. 93 KPRC-TV Houston, “March for Jobs and Freedom (1963).” 94 Austin Parks and Recreation Department, “A Living Legacy,” 20. 95 Austin Parks and Recreation Department, “A Living Legacy,” 26. 96 M. Neven Dumont, “Parks-Recreation Board Selects New Officer Slate,” The Austin American, June 17, 2024, 11. 97 “City of Austin Advertisement for Construction Bids,” Austin American-Statesman, December 14, 1971, 50. 98 Larry BeSaw, “Council Tuesday May Ease Standards for Police Aids,” Austin American-Statesman, December 27, 1971, 12. Page 30 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Glen Oaks Project “In Glen Oaks Project, there are areas along Boggy Creek which are subject to flooding and not suitable for housing. These areas will be left as an open green space with a dual purpose of providing both recreation and drainage.”99 Glen Oaks Urben Renewal project. North Pleasant Valley Road and overpass. Opened May 1972.100 Picture of ribbon cutting April 2, 1973. Air conditioning of Doris Miller Auditorium and new playground equipment. Under the leadership of Catherine Lamkin, the park expanded the programmed activities to include a Miss East Austin Pageant (which later was consolidated into the Miss Juneteenth Pageant), holiday celebrations around Easter and Christmas, establishing after-school art programs, and livestock shows all year round. In 1973 she commissioned the Rosewood Advisory Board to oversee the development and preservation of the park and its programming. This governing body, under the direction of Delores Duffie for 13 years, advocated to Austin City Council continuously for the resources and government support to continue programs at the park, primary geared towards the children and youth of East Austin. After the end of Mrs. Lamkin’s tenue as supervisor of Rosewood, the programming of the park shifted. Arts and crafts are still part of the daily programming, but there is a larger focus on the recreation activities that happen on the campus. Larger focus on the community as well. Following the closing of Anderson High School and Kealing Junior High School with desegregation orders, city council approved a trophy room for permanent display of sports trophies as well as scholastic and musical awards earned by both schools.101 The project went out to bid in April 1975 and was opened with a ceremony in February 1976.102 Henry Green Madison Cabin Relocation After the renovations were complete, Rosewood Park became the home of the Henry Green Madison Cabin (Figure 25). Henry Green Madison was a freedman who had moved to Austin during the Reconstruction Era and served the Austin community as the first Black alderman (Austin City Council member) from 1871 to 1872. He owned property near the southeast corner of East Avenue and East 11th Street where he constructed a log cabin. The family residence was expanded over the ensuing decades. The Madison cabin, where Henry and his wife Louisa Green started their family in Austin, was discovered during the demolition of the surrounding structure—preparation for the expansion of Interstate 35--in 1973. Instead of destroying the cabin, property owner Nina Belle Wooten (Mrs. Greenwood Wooten), worked with the Rosewood Recreation Association, Delores Duffie, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, inc. to restore the cabin and have it relocated to Rosewood Park grounds. According to its Historic Marker Application in 1973, when the cabin was discovered during construction work on the private property of Mrs. Greenwood Wooten in 1968, she donated the cabin to the City of Austin. It was then disassembled log by log. The following year the chairman of the alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, inc., Mrs. Oscar G. Lawless, requested that the cabin be restored as part of the organization’s Negro Heritage Committee. This committee’s objectives were to preserve Negro History in Austin and Travis County. By 1970, Ray Dell Galloway and Mrs. Barbara Russ of the Rosewood Recreation Association requested that the cabin be reconstructed at Rosewood Park, stating “Our objective is to acquaint children, especially Negro children in East Austin, with the history of Austin and surrounding Travis County…”.103 The combined effort of 99 “Environment Enhanced,” The Austin American, August 27, 1972, 212. 100 “East Austin Road Work Has Begun,” Austin American-Statesman, June 12, 1971, 17; “Installation of Lights Under Way,” Austin American-Statesman, May 18, 1972, 9; “Austin Urban Renewal Project Areas,” The Austin American, August 27, 1972, 215. 101 “‘Jackets’ Trophies Get Home?” Austin American-Statesman, October 20, 1973, 2’ “$35,000 Not All for Trophy Case,” Austin American-Statesman, October 31, 1973, 8; “Notice to Bidders,” Austin American-Statesman, April 6, 1975, 84; 102 “Schools’ ‘Hall of Honor’ to be unveiled Sunday,” Austin American Statesman, February 12, 1976, 15. 103 Henry G. Madison Cabin Historic Marker Application, text, 1973, The University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas Page 31 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas these groups saw the reconstruction of the cabin on Rosewood Park campus and the addition of educational relics to the cabin to give greater context for visitors. The cabin was designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark by the State of Texas in 1974 and as a City of Austin Landmark in 1976. Rosewood Park Today Even with then demographic changes in East Austin over the past 20 years, the park still serves as a community center the African American Austin community. Additions to the park boundaries and infrastructure are reminders of the work and dedication Black community members continue to show to Rosewood Park. In 1982, the City acquired a 7.47-acre triangular-shaped across on the south side of the railroad tracks to create the present-day park boundary. Around 1980, an open-air pavilion and restroom building were constructed in the northern area of the park. The pavilion was named the Catherine Lamkin Arboretum in 1995. Ms. Lamkin committed 36 years of service to Rosewood Park, starting her work with the Parks and Recreation Department in 1941 as the Director of Women and Girls Programs. She was promoted to Director of Serviceman’s Recreation for the veterans returning from duty and ultimately became the Central District Recreation Supervisor.104 Ms. Lamkin’s work, and that of many unnamed community members, has kept the traditions and culture of Rosewood Park and the Black Austinite community alive today. One of those traditions, the annual Juneteenth celebration, commemorates the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston Texas learned of their emancipation after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. This initially Black Texan holiday had celebration roots in Austin as early as 1866. The tradition of celebrating Juneteenth grew to have multiple celebrations across the city in the early 1900s to one centralized celebration with the 1928 City Plan. A parade through the city of Austin culminates in a community-wide festival at Rosewood Park. The parade and park festival are currently hosted by the Central Texas Juneteenth Committee of the Greater East Austin Youth Association (GEAYA).105 Summary Rosewood Neighborhood Park has been a stable component of the East Austin community for almost a century. In its inception, it was the only recreational space for black Austinites to commune with one another and build community. As the park grew in cultural significance, it became a meeting place for civil rights demonstrations, arts, entertainment, and sports. The park continues to evolve and respond to the changing needs of the surrounding community. Even still, citing the impact this place has within the black Austin community is necessary to ensure a more complete record of Austin’s history is preserved for generations to come. History, crediting Texas Historical Commission, accessed December 23, 2023, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth491803/. 104 “Lone Star Legacy Park” application, 2019, PARD. 105 Central Texas Juneteenth, “About Us,” accessed July 3, 2024, https://www.juneteenthcentraltexas.com/about-us. Page 32 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Bibliography Austin American-Statesman. The Austin Statesman. Austin Parks and Recreation Department. “A Living Legacy: Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present and Creating Our Future: Austin Parks and Recreation Department, 1928-2003.” Accessed February 27, 2026. https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Homepage/pard-75th-anniv-booklet-2.pdf. Central Texas Juneteenth. “About Us.” Accessed July 3, 2024. https://www.juneteenthcentraltexas.com/about-us. Contreras, Kalan. Parque Zaragosa National Register of Historic Places nomination. June 2021. City of Austin. Austin Parks and Recreation Department Archives. Duffie, Delores. Interview by Tara A. Dudley. August 5, 2023. Recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. Glasrud, Bruce A. and Debbie M. Liles, editors. African Americans in Central Texas History: From Slavery to Civil Rights. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2019. Hafertepe, Kenneth. The Material Culture of the German Texans. First edition. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2016. Heath, Amy. “The El Camino Real de los Tejas.” To Relate. Published by the City of Austin, Austin Parks and Recreation Department. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/4a3a81d1e8a44da1bc28a0f3df0f679f?item=4. Henry G. Madison Cabin Historic Marker Application. Text. 1973. The University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Texas Historical Commission. Accessed December 23, 2023. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth491803/. Hicks, Louis, Jr. Interview by Sarah Marshall. August 5, 2023. Recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. Huppertz, Meta and Willie. Interview. January 13, 1975. Rosewood Recreation Center, Interview 0123, Austin Public Library, Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas. Jackson, Robena Estelle. “East Austin: A Socio-Historical View of a Segregated Community.” Master’s thesis. University of Texas at Austin, 1973. Jordan, Terry G. “A Century and a Half of Ethnic Change in Texas, 1836-1986.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 89, no. 4 (1986): 385–422. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30239930. . “The German Settlement of Texas after 1865.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 73, no. 2 (1969): 193– 212. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30236570. Page 33 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas . “Germans.” Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Accessed July 13, 2023. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/germans. Julia O. Bertram, Emmy and Charles Huppertz, Doris and W. J. Miller vs. H. W. and Agnes Moeller. Cause no. 13,786. District Court of Travis County. Travis County Clerk, Austin, Texas. Koch and Fowler. A City Plan for Austin, Texas. Dallas: Koch and Fowler, 1928; repr., Austin: Department of Planning, 1957. KPRC-TV Houston. “March for Jobs and Freedom.” Film. 1963. Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://texasarchive.org/2019_01294. Kuhlman, Martin. The Civil Rights Movement in Texas: Desegregation of Public Accommodations, 1950-1964. Thesis. Texas Tech University, 1994. Lich, Glen E. The German Texans. Revised edition. San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, 1996. McKinney, Pamela Patterson. Interview by Tara A. Dudley. August 5, 2023. Recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. Moos, Janet Vermillion, et. al. “Social History of Public Swimming Pools,” in Texas Pool, Plano, Collin County, Texas, National Register of Historic Places nomination form. March 2018. Accessed February 27, 2026. Morrison & Fourmy’s Austin (Texas) City Directory, 1930-1931. Boston and Dallas: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., 1931. Perkins, Elaine. A Hill Country Paradise?: Travis County and Its Early Settlers (Bloomington: iUniverse, Inc., 2012. Porter, Alex. Interview by Sarah Marshall. August 5, 2023. Recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. “‘A Question of Great Delicacy’: The Texas Capitol Competition, 1881.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 92, no. 2 (October 1988): 247-270. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30240072. Riles, Karen, comp. “African American Resource Guide: Sources of Information Relating to African Americans in Austin and Travis County. Prepared for Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. Updated December 2017. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://library.austintexas.gov/library/pdf/african_american_resource_guide_current.pdf. Schmidt, Michael. “East Austin Centers of Swing: The Royal Auditorium and the Cotton Club, 817 E. 11th.” Accessed February 27, 2026. https://local-memory.org/athens-on-the-colorado/narratives/east-austin-centers-of-swing. Sneed, Leonard. Interview by Sarah Marshall. August 5, 2023. Recording, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin, Texas. Travis County Appraisal District. Property detail 197749. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://travis.prodigycad.com/property-detail/197749. Travis County Deed Records. Page 34 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Wilkinson, Gordon. “Civil Rights Demonstration in Austin.” Film. 1963. Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Accessed February 27, 2026. https://texasarchive.org/2011_03880. Wiltse, Jeff. Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007. . “Swimming Pools, Civic Life, and Social Capital,” in A Companion to Sport: Contested Space and Politics. Edited by David L. Andrews and Ben Carrington. West Sussex: Willey-Blackwell, 2013. Page 35 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Maps Map 1: Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County. Source: GoogleMaps 5.21.25 Map 2. The boundary includes all property currently and historically associated with Rosewood Park. Source: Travis CAD Page 36 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Map 3: Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County. Source: Google Earth (July 28, 2025) Page 37 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Map 4: Rosewood Neighborhood Park with Contributing and NonContributing Resources Page 38 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figures Figure 1: 1940 Aerial Page 39 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 3: 1875 Bertram House, n.d. Source: Austin History Center. Figure 4: Baseball field and Bertram House, 1936. Source: Bureau of Identification Photographic Lab.; Austin History Center. Page 40 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 5: Rosewood Park swimming pool, 1936. Source: Ellison Photo Service. [Rosewood Park pool], photograph, May 19, 1936; Austin Public Library via Portal to Texas History. Figure 6: Bandstand, 1939. Source: Bureau of Identification Photographic Lab., Austin. [Rosewood park bandstand], photograph, August 23, 1939; Austin History Center via Portal to Texas History. Page 41 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 7: Doris Miller Auditorium, c. 1944. Source: Austin History Center. Figure 8: Christmas program inside auditorium, 1948. Source: Austin History Center. Page 42 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 10: Food and Livestock Show with Miller Auditorium in background, 1946. Source: Ibid. Figure 11: Boys playing baseball, 1959. Source: Ibid. Page 43 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 12: Children playing on baseball diamond, 1958. Camera faces west toward Chestnut Street. Source: Ibid. Figure 13: Swimming at Rosewood Pool, c. 1950. Source: Ibid. Page 44 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 14: Beauty Pagent for Juneteenth event, 1959. Source: Ibid. Figure 15: Sewing classes, 1968. Source: Ibid. Page 45 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Figure 16: Ada Bronner teaching a tap class at Rosewood, 1973. Source: Ibid. Page 46 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Current Photographs Photo 1: Entrance (#1) to Rosewood Park off Rosewood Ave., looking north. Page 47 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 2: Entrance gateway (#1) details, looking northwest. Photo 3: Tennis Courts (#3), looking northeast from entrance gateway. Page 48 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 4: Doris Miller Auditorium (#2), looking northwest. Photo 5: Doris Miller Auditorium interior, looking northwest. Page 49 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 6: Looking northeast to Madison Cabin (#15) and 1873 Betram House/Delories Duffie Recreation Center (#13) in the foreground. The photo also shows the elevation change from the parking lot off Rosewood Avenue. Photo 7: Henry Madison Cabin under restoration. Looking southeast. Page 50 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 8: Built in 1873, the Bertram House//Delories Duffie Recreation Center (#13) predates Rosewood Park. Looking north at primary elevation. Photo 9: Rear addition to Bertram House (#13), looking northwest. Page 51 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 9: Rosewood Pool (#6) Photo 10: 1934 Poolhouse (#7), looking east. Page 52 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 11: Poolhouse/Restroom, built c. 2020, looking southeast. Photo 12: Looking east to noncontributing play equipment (#9) from concession stand. Page 53 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 13: 1939 Concession Stand (#10) and barbeque pit (#11), looking southeast with Rosewood Pool in background. Photo 14: 1939 Bandstand (#12) north of/behind Bertram House (#13) Page 54 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 15: Contextual photo from north parking lots looking south at Bandstand (#12) and Bertram House (#13). Photo 16: North side of Rosewood Park, looking northwest towards noncontributing pavilion (#17). Page 55 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 17: Contextual view of north baseball diamond (#24), looking east with channel in foreground and Bertram House (#13) in the far background. Photo 18: South baseball diamond (#20) looking northwest. Page 56 SBR Draft United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Rosewood Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas Photo 19: Looking up/northeast at Bertram House (#13) and 1930 stair/retaining walls (#14) from homebase (#20). Photo 20: Contextual view looking south toward the parking lot from park promontory. Doris Miller Auditorium (#2) on right. Page 57 SBR Draft