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Sunday - July 19, 2009

The McKinney Homestead

The McKinney Homestead is found, not surprisingly, on the grounds of the McKinney State Park.

This was our first glimpse of it...through the trees:

And, an unobstructed view, a few minutes later:

The informational placard on the grounds shares this info:

After moving here from Galveston in the late 1840's, Thomas McKiney had a new house built for himself and his wife Anna. His slaves cut limestone blocks from nearby outcrops, burned lime in a kin on the opposite side of Onion Creek, and cut lumber and shingles from a Bastrop County wood lot for use in construction. This was to be McKinney's quiet country place after the hectic years of revolution and turmoil in early Texas. The McKinney's had no children, but their house as at the center of a community of family and friends. However, the Civil War brought financial ruin, and Thomas McKinney's health began to fail. He died in his second-floor bedroom in 1873. Anna McKinney sold the homestead in 1885 to J. W. Smith, and farm families who worked for the Smiths lived in the house until it burned in the mid 1940's.

Interestingly, McKinney State Park became our "go to" hiking spot because it lies within in the Austin city limits. You're driving along in southeast Austin (about half-way between I-35 and the airport) and, all of a sudden, you're in a State Park. It's pretty cool. And, generally peaceful. You do sometimes hear the traffic or planes flying overhead. But, it's not bad. It would appear, though, that back in the day the homestead was quite a horse ride from Austin.

Posted by Joanna at 6:00 AM

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