History of Eilers Park

In 1935, the city of Austin purchased most of the land for the small park that surrounds Deep Eddy Pool from A.J. Eilers, a prominent Austin businessman. For $10,000, the city received five acres of riverfront property, 19 rental cottages, a huge concrete swimming pool, a bathhouse, and a concession stand. Eilers would have liked to have made a gift of his resort to the city, but his finances wouldn’t allow it. However, he wanted to protect the space from private development. In an article about the city’s purchase of the parkland, the American Statesman quoted him regarding the sale of the property, “I wanted the city to have Deep Eddy in preference to seeing some private concern operate it, because I wanted to see it developed as a municipal park and thus continue the resort for the benefit of Austin citizenship (“Bath House at Deep Eddy,” Nov. 17, 1935).

Who was A.J. Eilers?
August Johnson Eilers (1864-1939) was a native Texan. Born in Bastrop County of Dutch immigrant parents, he went to common school there. After going off to business college in Poughkeepsie, New York, he settled in Austin for life. He married Maggie Cater in 1887, and they had six children. He was a partner in a wholesale dry goods firm, McKean-Eilers, which was located near 4th Street and Congress. An active and involved citizen, he took part in many leadership and development endeavors in Austin in the early 1900s, including the founding of the Colorado River Development Corporation, the predecessor of the Lower Colorado River Authority. He was the person who spearheaded the construction of the first outdoor swimming pool in Texas, now know as Deep Eddy Pool, and the development of the recreational area that became Eilers Park.

The Early History
In 1855, Charles Johnson, a Swedish immigrant, moved to Central Texas and homesteaded land on the north side of the Colorado River that included the area that is now the park. In 1858, he built a beautiful home of stone quarried from his land. The house sat on a high knoll overlooking his land and the Colorado River.

The Johnson family had an almost private swimming hole in their front yard. It was formed by a huge rock that jutted into the river; the current caused by the rock formed a “deep eddy.” In 1902, two of Johnson’s children, Mary and Henry, opened a swimming and recreation center called the Deep Eddy Bathing Company. They developed campsites and set up tents to dress for swimming. They put in a trolley for sliding into the river and a diving board.
In 1908, a Statesman article described the spot: “During the past year or two, Deep Eddy, that beautiful stretch of the river below the dam, has become a very popular camping ground, and at present there are at least 30 tents on both sides of the river along the eddy. Businessmen who are unable to secure vacations can reach these camps by a short walk from the end of the car line and spend the nights in this delightful and cool place.” The Johnson home still stands and is a historical landmark. In 1925, World War One veterans from Austin established the American Legion post number 76 there. The rock that formed the eddy was eventually dynamited, but the name, Deep Eddy, stuck.

In 1915, Mary O. Johnson sold Deep Eddy to Mr. A. J. Eilers and two business partners. In 1916, Eilers began development of the Deep Eddy area into a resort and built the concrete swimming pool. This pool had slides, spring-boards, trapezes, flying rings, horizontal bars, and diving towers. Visitors saw performances such as the Great Lorena and her diving mule and The World Champion Diving Baby. A former circus worker, George Rowley, became general manager. Later he became a junior partner. While Eilers was chief promoter of the park, it was Rowley who was mostly responsible for the activities in the park—and its ambience—the carnival with rides including a ferris wheel, the free movies, the music, the performances.

A 1920 Austin Chamber of Commerce brochure published to promote the park described its natural beauty: “…its setting of giant willows and cotton wood trees, glimpses of water, and its background of mountains—makes it one of the beauty spots of Texas. Swimming, boating, fishing, and camping are the chief pleasures of this resort….There are band concerts twice each week and free moving pictures every night except Sunday.” There was a group of summer cottages, erected on a high bluff overlooking the pool and river.

Austin’s Eilers Park
Two weeks after the park was purchased by the city a storm swept away all of the structures and filled the swimming pool with dirt and debris. The city cleaned out the pool, which was miraculously free of damage and joined with the Works Progress Administration in building the rock bathhouse. Eventually, the western edge of the land was separated from the pool and named after A.J. Eilers. Today, the approximately 9 acres of parkland is used for picnics, toddler play, and fishing. There are 16 picnic tables, 6 barbecue pits, a small fishing pier, and a toddler’s playscape.