Waters Park (also known as Waters and Watters) was a village located eight miles north of downtown Austin, Texas defined by the boundaries of Farm to Market Road 1325, MoPac, and the Southern Pacific Railroad.[1] It is now part of the City of Austin.
The village was originally known as Summers' Grove, and the origin of the name Waters Park is unknown.[1]
The land at Waters Park was originally owned by Silas and Parthenia Summers who purchased the land in 1872.[1] Right-of-way was sold to Austin and Northwestern Railroad in October 1881. The railroad built a park with a swimming pool, gazebo, baseball field, picnic grounds, and concessions stands in the summer of 1882.[1] The area's railroad tracks were used to transport pink granite from Granite Mountain to the Texas State Capitol in Downtown Austin.[1] Due to a bend in the tracks, trains would occasionally derail, accidentally dumping some of the pink granite.[2] The rocks which remain are a local point of interest. The local post office opened in 1883 and closed in 1905.[1]
The town was a popular vacation spot as it was easy to access via train from Austin.[1] An advert in the June 14, 1882 edition of the Austin Daily Democratic Statesman read:
The town proved historically to be Austin's fourth most popular day trip destination after the Austin Dam, Seiders Springs, and the then existent lake at Hyde Park.[2]