Hyde Park is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

and historic district in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Located in Central Austin, Hyde Park is defined by 38th Street to the south, 45th Street to the north, Duval Street to the east, and Guadalupe Street to the west. It is situated just north of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

and borders the neighborhoods of Hancock and North Loop. Hyde Park traces its origins back to 1891 and is considered to be Austin's first

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. The neighborhood was originally developed by Monroe M. Shipe in 1891 as a "White Only"

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

with a large artificial lake, but it has since become one of the most densely populated areas in the city's urban core. Part of the neighborhood was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as a Historic District in 1990. Hyde Park is located in city council

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand ...

History

Located approximately twenty blocks from Austin's original town site, the area now known as Hyde Park was largely rural in character for much of the 19th century. The

State Fair of Texas The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas at historic Fair Park. The fair has taken place every year since 1886 except for varying periods during World War I and World War II as well as 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ...

was held in the eastern sections of Hyde Park from 1875 until it was moved to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in 1884. A portion of the State Fair's horseracing track is still reflected in the curved segment of 39th Street between Avenue F and Duval Street. Map of Hyde Park

Established in 1891 by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Land and Town Company, Hyde Park was marketed under the direction of Monroe Martin Shipe as a majority-white, affluent suburb featuring large, majestic residences, separate from the racially integrated neighborhoods of the city. Ads touted Hyde Park as "free from nuisances and an objectionable class of people, proper restrictions being taken to guard against undesirable occupants." Critical to the suburb's success was the establishment of an electric

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

system. After the City Council awarded Shipe a franchise in 1890, his Austin Rapid Transit Railway Company built its first line on Congress Avenue, west on Sixth Street, and north on Rio Grande Street and Old Georgetown Road (now Guadalupe Street) to Hyde Park. Hyde Park was initially marketed to Austin's elite in the 1890s, and Shipe achieved moderate success. The first houses built in the neighborhood were stylistic examples of late 19th-century domestic architecture. Many of them, such as the Oliphant-Walker House, were built in the Queen Anne style by locally prominent citizens. Noted sculptor Elisabet Ney was among the first to buy property in the area, which was heavily promoted as confirmation that Hyde Park was attractive to Austin's most talented and prestigious citizens. Ney built a small castle-style studio, named Formosa, in northwest Hyde Park that is now home to the Elisabet Ney Museum. By the late 1890s and early 1900s, however, the tone of Hyde Park's advertisements began to change. No longer was it promoted as an affluent residential area; instead, the suburb was described as an ideal place for the "working man or woman" to invest his or her earnings by purchasing a lot and building a residence. The key phrase in these promotions became affordability. Hyde Park's architectural character shifted to smaller, more modest frame houses and bungalows. While steady construction of houses characterized the area through the early 1900s, Hyde Park's greatest building boom occurred between 1924 and 1935. Shipe Park was dedicated in 1928. Analysis of styles and dates of construction of domestic structures elucidates historic growth patterns within Hyde Park. The oldest houses are located near the State Hospital or along the former streetcar route on 40th Street. Later, as promotional emphasis shifted to a different socioeconomic group, more modest dwellings were constructed in areas somewhat removed from the streetcar line. Today, Hyde Park consists of mostly renovated bungalow-style homes, and modern duplex-style residences, many with bright colors and unorthodox decorations, due in part to the residents preserving the city's informal "Keep Austin Weird" slogan. All street signs in Hyde Park are dedicated to its historical identity. Many "Austinites" consider Hyde Park

Austin, TX Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

's most locally cultured neighborhood.

Historic districts

The Hyde Park neighborhood contains two historic districts and several other individual historic buildings listed on the

. The Hyde Park Historic District is roughly defined by West 40th Street to the south, West 45th Street to the north, Duval Street to the east, and Avenue A to the west. The district includes

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

Tudor Revival architecture Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

, and bungalows. The Shadow Lawn Historic District in southeast Hyde Park is roughly bounded by 38th Street, 39th Street, Avenue G, and Duval Street. The district includes several homes of historic interest from the early twentieth century.

Historic buildings in Hyde Park

Blue Bonnet Court The Blue Bonnet Court, originally called the Bluebonnet Tourist Camp, is a historic motor court-style motel in north-central Austin, Texas. It is located at 4407 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas. The lot where it stands originally belonged to th ...

* Elisabet Ney Museum * Col. Monroe M. Shipe House * Hildreth-Flanagan-Heierman House * Frank M. and Annie G. Covert House * Page-Gilbert House * Smith-Marcuse-Lowry House * Oliphant-Walker House * Peter and Clotilde Shipe Mansbendel House

Real Estate and Housing Market Trends

Residential properties are the most prominent property type in Hyde Park, with single-family dwellings comprising about 95 percent of the neighborhood's built environment. Most lots within the neighborhood were improved between the late 1890s and 1935. Houses built during that period reflect the architectural tastes, trends and patterns that prevailed in Austin at the time. Bungalows are the most common house type, followed by examples of the stylistic influences of the Queen Anne and

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

styles. As Austin grew, Hyde Park once again underwent a boom of sorts. From 2001 to 2007, the median home price rose by nearly $70,000 to $320,000. Despite the housing market crash in 2008-2009, homes regained their values and as of July 2013 the median home price was $350,000 with some properties selling for over $1.5 million. The Shipe Park is located in Hyde Park. Shipe Park has two unlighted basketball courts, one multipurpose court, two picnic tables, one playground, a 444-square-yard neighborhood swimming pool, two lighted tennis courts, and indoor toilet facilities.

Education

Residents are served by the Austin Independent School District. Residents are assigned to Lee Elementary School, Kealing Middle School, and

McCallum High School A. N. McCallum High School is a public high school in Austin, Texas, United States. McCallum, the second oldest high school in the Austin Independent School District (formerly known as Austin Public Schools prior to desegregation in 1971), ope ...

.School Assignment by Residential Address
." Austin Independent School District. Retrieved on September 26, 2009. The area is also served by Hyde Park Schools. Sri Atmananda Memorial School, a private school, was in Hyde Park.

References

External links

Hyde Park Neighborhood Association

Map of the historic district

Austin's Hyde Park

Hyde Park Neighborhood info and stats

Friends of Hyde Park Neighborhood Association
{{Austin Neighborhoods in Austin, Texas Streetcar suburbs Queen Anne architecture in Texas Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Hyde Park