Hyde Park, Austin, Texas

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Hyde Park Historic District
(U.S. Registered Historic District)
Location: Roughly bounded by Ave. A, 45th St., Duval St., and 40th St.
Austin, Texas
Added to NRHP: August 16, 1990
NRHP Reference#: 90001191
MPS: Hyde Park MPS

Hyde Park, served by the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, is a historic neighborhood in Central Austin, located just north of The University of Texas. The neighborhood was originally developed by Monroe Martin Shipe in 1891 as a streetcar suburb with a large artificial lake, but it has since become one of the most densely populated areas in the city's urban core. While the lake was filled in long ago, Hyde Park is still known for its beautiful tree-lined streets and its great diversity of residents, buildings and land uses. It is now home to small, local shops serving everything from buttermilk-dipped fries at Hyde Park Bar and Grill to vegetarian fare at Mother's as well as large-scale shopping centers with a big H.E.B grocery store.

Before the creation of Hyde Park, the State Fair of Texas was held in the eastern sections of Hyde Park from 1875 until it was moved to Dallas 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. The Shipe House, also known as Shadowlawn, was built along this curve using the style and the actual wood from the grandstands.

In 1892 sculptor Elisabet Ney built a small castle-style studio, named Formosa, in northwest Hyde Park. The studio is now the home of the Elisabet Ney Museum and a frequent stop on the annual neighborhood home tour.

In recent years, Hyde Park has been revitalized. As Austin has grown, Hyde Park's closeness to the University of Texas at Austin and downtown has made it popular with faculty, graduate students and young professionals as well as increasing the value of houses in this area. In 2006 the median house price in Hyde Park was $309,902 and the median price per square foot was $240.


[edit] Historic Locations in Hyde Park

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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