Neighbors-in-History, Part 3

Updated September 25, 2023 Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. Final blog post in this series, in which we introduce a few special neighbors-in-history who have contributed to our sense of place here. (See links for more info.) KOENIG • McCULLOUGH By 1946, Dr. Joseph Samuel Koenig (1885-1951) and Clarence McCullough (1898-1992) developed Section 1 of Violet Crown Heights, between Payne and Ruth in the … Read more

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Neighbors-in-History, Part 2

Updated October 1, 2023 Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. The second in a three-part series, in which we introduce a few neighbors-in-history. (See links for more information.) HANCOCK • WICKS Rubin Hancock (about 1835-1916) was an enslaved person (and possibly a half-brother, according to at least one source) of Austin Judge John Hancock (more about him here). Rubin—and possibly other members of his family, … Read more

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Neighbors-in-History, Part 1

Copyright 2012 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. As we researched the history of the Brentwood and Crestview area—in newspapers, abstracts of title, the census, various websites, oral history interviews, and many other sources—we discovered more special Austin neighbors who have contributed to our sense of place here. In the first in a three-part series, we introduce you to just a few of them. We provide links, … Read more

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WABAC Machine, Part 6

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. Our neighborhood history series continues . . . (What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here.) 2006 • November 9: Brentwood Elementary held its tenth annual Veterans Day celebration, at which students wearing America-themed hats created a living version of the 1812 American flag. Photos of it were featured in the Austin American-Statesman. (More info about neighborhood veterans here.) 2007 … Read more

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WABAC Machine, Part 5

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. Our neighborhood history continues . . . (What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here.) 1962 • Burkhart’s Motor Dining opened on Burnet Road; it became Top Notch (left) in 1971. 1964 • J. D. Harper became the owner of Crestview Pharmacy. 1965 • Ronnie and the West Winds—featuring Ronnie Prellop of Crestview Minimax IGA—performed at IBEW Hall on South Congress … Read more

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WABAC Machine, Part 4

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. Our neighborhood history series continues . . . (What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here.) 1945 • After World War II, more and more young families moved to Brentwood and Crestview, and the landscape began to change from mostly farmland and wide open spaces to neat rows of well-kept homes. (See our film A Community Mosaic for images from … Read more

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WABAC Machine, Part 3

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. Our neighborhood history series continues . . . (What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here.) 1881 • The Austin and Northwestern narrow gauge railroad—later Southern Pacific—was built between Austin and Burnet, through today’s Crestview and a stop called Abercrombie. EARLY 1890s • First known appearance in print of “City of the Violet Crown” to describe Austin. 1893 • Esperanza … Read more

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WABAC Machine, Part 2

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. We begin our WABAC trip with selections, old and new, from our neighborhood history exhibit and booklet, with links included for more info. (What’s a WABAC Machine? Find out here.) ABOUT 500 B. C. • The Greek poet Theognis is among the earliest writers to describe Athens, Greece, as the City of the Violet Crown. By the 1890s, Texas writers … Read more

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“Sherman, Set the WABAC Machine!,” Part 1

Copyright 2012-2023 Susan Burneson. All rights reserved. Kindly talk with us before reproducing any website content. In the 1960s, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, cartoon characters on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, traveled back in time to visit famous historical events through Mr. Peabody’s WABAC (“wayback”) machine. This week’s blog is an intro to our local WABAC trip, beginning next time. We include excerpts from our history exhibit and booklet, with new info, too. You might … Read more

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A Voice of the Violet Crown

Updated September 19, 2023 I had a friend, Coleen Grant Hardin, who was fascinated with genealogy, just as I am. She once told me the story of her great-grandmother, Dr. Elizabeth Durbin Irby Crow Smith, one of the first woman physicians in Northern Louisiana. As Elizabeth passed away at age 73, she said to those around her: It’s a shame for me to die and take all this knowledge with me. Few of us will … Read more

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