A few years ago I came across a fascinating word on Wikipedia: “disambiguate.”
The verb to make the world less ambiguous seems just right. Not too long. Easy to understand. Immediately helpful.
In this week’s Austin Answered column, we seek to clarify the proper noun “Butler” in relation to local place names.
Unlike the places named “Moody,” we’re not talking about a single philanthropic family that has generously provided our city with several world-class venues and other projects that combine nature, culture and the arts. On my cocktail napkin, I currently count eight such Moody places in downtown Austin alone. (Thank you, Moody family.)
“Butler” as a place name, on the other hand, is derived from three prominent but not closely related Austin tribes.
Michael Butler: His stones built Austin
Irish immigrant Michael Butler arrived in Central Texas just in time to share his talent for making sturdy bricks from the clay along the Colorado River. He started in 1873 at the foot of East Avenue—now Interstate 35—then moved to an area roughly between Barton Creek and South Congress Avenue before exporting his production to Elgin, now home to the Elgin Butler Company in Bastrop County. Most of the bricks you see in 19th-century buildings in Austin were made from Butler bricks. Several places in Central Austin are named after Michael and his family; some are near his former quarries south of the river.
- Butler Metro Park: A recreational park located west of South First Street, east of South Lamar Boulevard, and north of Barton Springs Road. It includes Doug Sahm Hill, Vic Mathias Shores, Long Center for the Performing Arts, Skyline Theater, Palmer Events Center, Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue, Liz Carpenter Splash Pad, Fannie Davis Town Lake Gazebo, and Alliance Children’s Garden. A historical marker dedicated to this special Butler family is located directly across Barton Springs Road from the El Alma restaurant.
- Butler Shores: This could be considered a continuation of Butler Park on the other side of South Lamar. It includes the Zach Theater complex, several sports fields, Austin Parks and Recreation offices, and one of the most beautiful sections of the walking and biking trail, named after another Austin Butler family.
- Butler Pitch & Putt: An eccentric and beloved Austin landmark, this golf theme park was recently renovated. One incident that resonates in local history was a murder on October 22, 1951, when Mac Wallace shot and killed pro golfer John Douglas “Doug” Kinser in broad daylight. A love triangle – or perhaps quadruple – seemed to be part of the motive.
- Butler window: The ornate Butler Mansion once stood near Wooldridge Square Park, but was demolished in the 1970s. Salvaged remnants of the building can be found throughout the city, including the elegant Butler Window, with its brick frame, granite trim, and terra-cotta inlays, preserved for Instagram moments at Zilker Botanical Gardens.
Friends of the Johnsons: Ann and Roy Butler
Ann Showers Butler and her husband, the late Roy Butler, were once one of the city’s most famous couples. He was a car dealer and mayor of Austin from 1971 to 1975; she remains a gracious hostess who has championed a variety of causes. They shared a close friendship with President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson. Thanks to that relationship, they helped lead the campaign to clean up the industrial wasteland along the Colorado River, transforming it into a green urban gem. Others might have done the day-to-day work on the ground, but the Butlers, along with the former First Lady, made sure it all happened. A plaque on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge honors their efforts.
- Ann and Roy Butler Hiking and Biking Trail: This 10-mile trail around Lady Bird Lake is an essential feature that has been updated frequently in its more than 50 years of existence. In her account of the trail’s creation, Ann Butler recounts a conversation with Lady Bird at a hotel overlooking the Thames in London during which the First Lady suggested that Austin could benefit from similar landscaping. It is often forgotten that much of the early work on the trail, which is now overseen by the Trail Conservancy, was done by volunteers, particularly local garden clubs.
- Ann Showers Butler Pavilion at Seton Medical Center: Ann Butler became even more involved in humanitarian causes after her husband died in 2009. This five-story patient pavilion opened in 2008.
Guardian Angels of the Arts: Ernest and Sarah Butler
Retired otolaryngologist Ernest Butler and his wife, Sarah Butler, shy away from the spotlight. They and their children have financially supported countless areas of the city’s arts scene, donating well over $100 million in thoughtful gifts, in part because they studied decades ago at Baylor University under the visionary theater director and creativity philosopher Paul Baker. And although their family fund is among the most generous in the city – they have donated to the arts in other cities as well – the couple is so modest that they only field questions from the media when they are not the focus of the story.
- Sarah and Ernest Butler Music School: That Butler family donated $55 million to give their name to the University of Texas School of Music, which includes numerous programs housed in some or all of the three buildings on campus. The centerpiece for the public is Bates Recital Hall, a 650-seat gem that hosts hundreds of UT performances each year.
- Butler Dance Training Center: How many American dance companies own their facilities in the middle of some of the city’s most expensive real estate? Ballet Austin does, thanks in part to the Butlers’ foresight. You can sometimes see public performances there at the Austin Ventures studio. I don’t know how many offers Cookie Ruiz, Ballet Austin’s CEO and executive director and one of Austin’s fiercest nonprofit leaders, has turned down to build a tower over the property at 501 W. Third St., but I’d bet it’s a lot. More recently, the building, a former printing plant, was known as Ballet Austin’s Butler Center for Dance & Fitness, but the older name still graces the company’s website.
- Butler Opera Center: This is not a place per se, but rather the academic program of the UT Butler Music School, which is one of the opera training centers in the country. I add it here because it Sounds like a place. The school usually produces shows at the McCullough Theater, which is part of Texas Performing Arts and is located between the Bass Concert Hall and Bates Recital Hall.
The Butler locations—there are more!—are not as confusing as the Moody locations, in part because the interests of the three Butler families diverged. Still, the proximity of Butler Park or Butler Shores to a section of the Butler Hike & Bike Trail can confuse even old hands.
Send your questions – or answers – about Central Texas’ past and present to Austin Answered at mbarnes@statesman.
