Thanks to some determined Mexican American businessmen nearly 100 years ago, Austin’s Parque Zaragoza continues to play a role in the community.
AUSTIN, Texas — There’s a priceless treasure along Boggy Creek in far East Austin. There amid the tall oak trees is more than just a park: It’s a symbol of the vision of Mexican American leaders who long ago wanted their neighbors and their families to have a place to gather and celebrate.
Nearly 100 years ago, Mexican American business leaders asked city hall to set aside park land for the city’s Hispanic community on the eastside.
They got 9.5 acres, and over the decades the park would become the center of Hispanic culture and family life in the capital city.
The park was designated in the ’30s to be the place where all Hispanics would hang out. The park itself brought the whole community – the Hispanic community – together.
The story of the park’s history is the focus of a new documentary video commissioned by the Historic Preservation and Tourism Program of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
“The community had been instrumental in learning how to push, in learning how to lobby, and in learning how to get things done,” said Gloria Mata Pennington, a former Austin city parks program manager.
For over 90 years, Parque Zaragoza has been the most used outdoor space for Mexican Americans in Austin. Today it serves the entire city as a testament to the strength of those early voices who said, “We belong here, too.”
