Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association

By Biruta Clemins Kearl

The western boundary of Pemberton Heights is marked by the MoPac expressway, the ever-busier highway whose potential expansion helped spark the establishment of the Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association. Its history goes back to the 1870s.

The rail line was originally called the International and Great Northern (I & GN) and it was the 2nd railroad in Austin. It arrived in December 1876 from Hearne and Palestine, five years after the first railroad (the Houston, Texas, and Central) chugged into town. The turreted I&GN depot was a stately structure at the southwest corner of Congress and Third. In 1925, the I&GN line became part of the Missouri Pacific lines, hence the nickname “MoPac.”

In April 1955 Mayor McFadden announced an agreement with the Missouri Pacific RR to acquire right of way for a planned West Side expressway – another MoPac. Described originally as a tree-lined inner city “boulevard” from Town Lake to Northland Drive intended to ease the crush of West and Northwest Austinites to and from downtown, planning for the expressway took a sharp change in 1966. At that time the city council, dismayed by increases in projected costs, went to the state highway dept to ask for financial help by making it a state funded expressway. This opened the door for both north and south extensions, at first from US 183 to the southern city limits on the south (360 and Lamar), but later much further each way.

Opposition began in 1968 when the public found out about the changes in scope and it grew as planning progressed. Neighborhood groups expressed concern about further congestion on East-West arterial roads. Constant noise by an increase in speed and volume of traffic fueled the citizen activism. A City Council public hearing in June 1975 about the issue of ramps at Westover and other cross roads drew more than 800 residents to the Municipal Auditorium. The four-hour marathon session was considered to be the largest public hearings in the history of the city. The newspaper reported that citizen testimony was evenly divided on whether ramps should be opened or closed, despite such rhetoric as “if you turn your backs on West Austin, you’ll turn your backs on the hopes of America,” by former Senator Ralph Yarborough. UT professor John Gallery likened the movement of MoPac traffic along Westover, Enfield, or Windsor roads to “trying to channel the Atlantic Ocean into Waller Creek.”

The first section of MoPac, the expressway, opened in November 1975. Today MoPac is once again a rallying point for protection of neighborhoods along that highway as further expansions are considered.

[Pemberton resident Biruta Clemins Kearl was the Archivist/Administrator at the Austin History Center, the local history research collection of the Austin Public Library.]

A Resident recalls Pemberton Heights

(Note: The following article was taken from e-mail correspondence between Carol Corley Nelson and Kathryn Miller Anderson.  Kathryn now lives in the infamous Mr. Smith’s house and he was her mean backyard neighbor when she was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s.)

All I remember about the Mr. Smith that lived in the house at 1513 Preston in the 1940’s and 50’s was that he was mean!

He was always catching my sister, brother, and me going through the fence and his driveway to see our friends on Westover. Other than trespassing or accidentally kicking a ball in his yard, I don’t think we did anything wrong. I’m sorry we don’t have a single happy memory of him.

I don’t remember much at all about Mrs. Smith – just how scared we were of him. The people to the west of him (1515 Preston, where the Greenwoods now live) were very sweet to us. (This Mr. Smith is not to be confused with the very nice Dr. Smith who lived at 1509 Preston for decades… he is 97 and lives in Westminster Manor)

There were a couple of vacant lots across from Mr. Smith on Preston (1514 – where Jill Griffin and Mack Nunn live now), and we played there quite a bit. Also, there were no houses from 1510 Gaston (where I lived), west to Jefferson for several years. I kept my donkey where Ova Davis built (now 1514), but finally had to move her (Chrysanthemum) down by the railroad tracks when the neighbors complained about the braying in the early morning.

There was a farm house where the condominiums are at the end of Preston on Jefferson. Those folks had chickens, turkeys, and all sorts of stuff. We loved checking on all of that. It is fun to think about the “olden days.”

…I remember the kids in the neighborhood, but most of them didn’t stay in Austin. I have never left Austin. I lived at 1510 Gaston until I married, and since then have spent 5 years in Tarrytown, 36 years on Wooldridge Drive, and 1 year on Harris Blvd.

We moved to Austin in December of 1941 – just three days before Pearl Harbor. I was five years old, and my sister, Julia, was a baby. My father purchased the house on Gaston shortly thereafter. The foundation was laid when we purchased the house. Daddy felt that home building would cease for some time – which it did. That is why we bought rapidly. Mr. Brush, of Walling, Bradfield, and Brush was a good friend of ours. His firm was developing the neighborhood, and their sales office was on Ethridge. In fact, it was just torn down about a year ago. For several years there were no houses west of ours on the North side of Gaston and the McCurdy’s on the South side of Gaston. The Overtons, the Sutherlands, and the McCurdys were already living across the street when we moved in. Those houses had been there a few years….

(This excerpt from the Summer 2003 Pemberton Journal contains some great short introductions to some of the beautiful historic homes in Pemberton Heights.)

1415 Wooldridge Drive: The Fisher-Gideon House (a/k/a The Castle)

Built in the 1890s as a water tower and used as the original Pemberton Heights Realty Office, this historic landmark is an example of diminutive Gothic architecture. It is currently owned by Dr. Ron and Linda Barnett and has been occupied over the years by a succession of colorful and interesting owners, including U.T. Architectural Design and History Professor Samuel Gideon (1875-1945), actress Libby Winters Bunch, State Supreme Court Justice William Kilgarlin, and Dell executive and philanthropist Mort Topfer and his wife Angela zone.

1505 Wooldridge Drive: The Josephine-Fisher House

Just west of the Castle is a splendid example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, built in 1928 by Pemberton Heights developer Samuel (Budley) Fisher and his wife, Josephine Lucille Mathen Fisher, who lived in the house with her sons from 1929 to 1942. It is currently owned by Dr. O.B. Jackson. Its cantilevered balcony, picturesque stuccoed facade, and ornamental grillwork give it a distinctive Monterey style.

2418 Harris Boulevard: The Goodfriend House

Featuring a Mediterranean Revival style, and currently owned by Mary and Bob Cocke, this home was built in 1933 by the Page Brothers, the same Austin architectural firm that built the Travis County Courthouse. The residence was originally designed for Benjamin and Augusta Goodfriend, who owned and operated Goodfriend’s Specialty Shop, a women’s clothing store on Congress Avenue. Its two-story limestone veneer structure includes features of several Mediterranean styles, notably Italian Renaissance and Spanish Eclectic. More of the Spanish style is evident in the upstairs family room, or sala, which features original beams, fireplace, windows and floor. The highlight of the entry hall is the custom-made ornate iron stair railing with its verdigris finish.

1406 Hardouin Avenue: The Spires House

Built in 1939, the curved corner by the front door, horizontal bands around the house, brick panels above the front door, and the flat roof all suggest Art Moderne. The present owners Pamela and Hunter Barrier worked with Kevin Alter of the U.T. School of Architecture to renovate and expand the house with considerate and award-winning additions, and the residence was featured on the 2002 AIA Homes Tour.

1402 Hardouin Avenue: The Sauer House

This hybrid from 1937 mixes both Prairie style and Colonial Revival, and is now owned by architect and former U.T. Dean of Architecture Larry Speck and Mandy
Dealey. While the low pitch of the tile roof and the large, overhanging eaves evoke the horizontal lines of the Prairie style, the clear characteristics of the Colonial Revival style may also be seen in the symmetrical facade, paired first floor windows and paneled front door with sidelights.

Architect Sinclair Black renovated and updated the house in the 1980s. Many of the built-in bookcases are original, as is the fireplace.

2500 Wooldridge Drive: The Cole-Greenhill House

Sited prominently on a corner lot, this Tudor cottage was built in 1936 for Maurice and Virginia Cole. A more sophisticated example of the Tudor style than most, with its curved front gable (notice the wavy shingles at the top of the gable) and irregular massing, its architectural inspiration is drawn from the vernacular cottages of the Tudor and Stewart reigns. This home is currently owned by Nick and Kelly Von Kreisler.

2505 Wooldridge Drive:The Allen House

Built in 1940, the Colonial Revival style of this residence is evident from the symmetrically balanced facade with center door, front door embellished with sidelights, fanlights and balcony supported by columns, double-hung windows with multi-pane glazing, side-gabled roof with exceptional dormer windows, and masonry veneer. Owners David and Janice Abrams added the wing in the back of the house on the south side, as well as the landscaping.

Many thanks to the Heritage Society 2003 Homes Tour Chair (and Pemberton resident) Michael McCullar, the Heritage Society members and staff, volunteers, and especially the homeowners for all of their hard work in presenting this wonderful tour showcasing our beloved neighborhood.