Earlier this year Madison Inselmann came across a fascinating aerial photography record of Shipe Park. The story begins in 1958, just after the seven-year drought ended. The only trees in the earliest of these photos were the heritage live oaks, and the two big American Elms, one of which was later removed in 1998. Waller Creek was little more than a barren trash-strewn storm water channel.
1997
It’s hard to see the original playscape from this photo. It was made from recycled railroad ties and replaced in 1998 with the playscape we have today. A few more live oaks were planted on the south side near the playscape by the Parks Dept. A huge hedge of red-tipped photinias screened the south fence of the pool. A half-dozen old gnarly American sycamores provided what little shade there was on the pool deck. A couple of live oaks were added to further shade the playscape.
2003
The Watershed Protection and Permit Review Department initiated their Waller Creek restoration project. As we all know, Waller Creek is very prone to flash flooding. This project to stabilize the streambank involved an innovative combination of both “hard” engineering (concrete, rip-rap) and bio-engineering such as grading, planting of trees and grasses, including the bald cypresses and the bur oaks by the tennis court. Note the Afghan pines along 45 th St. and Ave. F. These were later removed due to disease. Besides the plants installed by the WPPRD, many trees and shrubs “volunteered” along this riparian corridor.
These included box elder, black willow, red mulberry, American elms, and of course invasive species like chinaberry, Japanese ligustrum, Chinese pistachio, and others.
2008
The Friends of Shipe Park group began to form around the opportunity to plant more trees in 2006-2008, when Austin Energy was looking for groups to accept a significant number of trees (see the small dots representing new trees along Ave. F and by basketball court) as part of a mitigation agreement between the energy department and neighbors to compensate for the imposition of those huge power towers along Guadalupe. Notice how the Waller Creek trees are starting to fill in.
2015
Friends of Shipe Park planted more trees near swings and playscape, and along pool entryway. (Sadly, two trees were later removed to accommodate pool construction). Note how green the field looks after volunteers regularly spread compost to help it recover from heavy use.
2019-2021
FOSP was very involved throughout the long process of stakeholder meetings, schematic and construction drawings. We were able to lobby for extra amenities including shade awnings, the removal of old sidewalks from the base of our heritage live oaks, as well as moving the swing set to protect low branches. FOSP applied for an Urban Forestry grant to pay for long overdue arborist care for these valuable ancient trees. During construction, FOSP led an effort to restore the historic log cabin shelter, thanks to a generous matching grant from the Austin Parks Foundation, and equally generous support of the neighborhood.
Over the years, FOSP learned that planting trees is only the beginning. Trees could only thrive because we made a commitment to tree care as well. Our annual volunteer It’s My Park Day, hosted by the Austin Parks Foundation, is primarily dedicated to loosening compacted soils around the trees, and then spreading a generous amount of compost and mulch under the drip line. We also watch for irrigation problems and broken limbs, especially after the harsh winter storms.
Friends of Shipe Park would like to invite
you to join us to continue our stewardship of
Shipe Park. For more information, contact
Jill Nokes jill@jillnokes.com.
Thank you to Ariel Huppe and Jonathan Ogren of Siglo Group who helped us acquire higher quality photos. Thanks also to Madison Inselmann of Inselmann Development who first had the idea to show these images and who worked hard to format them. We also wish to give thanks for Suzee Brooks, Ann Grahm, and other neighborhood leaders who also supported the park and figured out how to add improvements, such as the rock wall and the playscape. You inspired us and we are thankful for all you did. Also we thank the HPNA steering committee for consistently supporting Shipe Park in the budget each year. We appreciate the support of our neighbors more than we can say.
Friends of Shipe Park 