Texana Thursday: 3 Fun Facts about Barton Springs

Barton Springs, in Austin, remains a popular swimming hole. (Creative Commons license attribution, photo courtesy Anna Hanks)

The summer heat is here and it’s time to visit a favorite Austin swimming hole, Barton Springs.

The Barton Springs pool is in Zilker Park, which is named for Austin philanthropist Andrew Jackson Zilker (1858-1934). Zilker was the last private owner of the land where Barton Springs is located, and in addition to his philanthropy, he was an Austin businessman and volunteer firefighter.

The park itself is on the south side of the Colorado River, known in Austin as Lady Bird Lake. And, while Barton Springs is very much a present-day popular attraction, it also has an interesting past.

1. Barton Springs is named for an early Austin-area settler.

Barton (1782-1840), known as “Uncle Billy,” was born in South Carolina. He lived in Kentucky, later in Alabama, before coming in 1828 to Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin’s second colony of settlers. He originally settled in Bastrop County and moved to Travis County, near the site of present-day Austin.

The springs were discovered and used long before Barton came on the scene, though. The Tonkawa Native American tribe used the springs for purification in the 17th century.

2. Barton named the springs for his daughters.

Barton Springs has three separate springs. Barton named each spring for a daughter: Elisa, Parthenia, and Zenobia.

Names aside, the continually cool water from the springs—between 68-70 degrees—made for a popular tourist attraction from the start, and Barton and others promoted it as such.

Today, according to the City of Austin’s web site, Barton Spring draws approximately 800,000 visitors per year.

3. Robert Redford learned to swim there.

Barton Springs is popular not just with Texans, but for non-Texans as well. Robert Redford, the actor, is said to have learned how to swim there.

He’s stayed in touch with the local situation, too. In 2007, Redford, along with Terrence Malick, co-produced a documentary, The Unforeseen, a documentary that describes the environmental impact of Austin’s suburban development on the Edwards Aquifer, from which Barton Springs gets its water. You can see the trailer for the documentary here.