The archive
The record, document by document.
Primary sources are the point of this project — patents, deeds, plats, surveys, ordinances, court opinions, and the City's own filings. Each is dated. A handful of items are Joe Riddell's own research or summaries; those are marked as analysis.
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Guide
PDF ↗
Key Events in the History of Sand Beach Reserve
Chronology · An index to the archive, 1839–2025. Compiled by Joe Riddell.
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Guide
Color ↗
Conflict Map
Map · The area of overlap between the YMCA claim and the Reserve, adapted from O'Hara's Exhibit O. Also available in black & white.
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Guide
PDF ↗
Area in Conflict — Computation
Analysis · The measurement supporting the ~1⅔-acre conflict area shown on the map.
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1839
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Introduction to the Early History
Analysis Joe Riddell's short primer on the founding of Austin and the creation of the Reserve.
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1839
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Original Surveys that became the Government Tract
History · The land certificates and surveys assembled to form Austin's Government Tract.
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1839
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Plan of the City of Austin
Map · The original 1839 plan of the city.
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1839
Link ↗
A New Seat of Government — the Original Survey of the City of Austin
External article · A readable GLO history of Austin's founding, with key maps (Save Texas History).
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1840
PDF ↗
Outlots Resolution
Founding document · The Jan. 5, 1840 joint resolution reserving 400 acres "for such public purposes as Congress may hereafter direct."
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1840
PDF ↗
Gordon's Garden
History · The early history of the tract that became Outlot 11.
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1840
PDF ↗
Map of the Outlots (Sandusky / Reich)
Map · The 1840 Outlots map as copied in 1863, showing the Reserve tracts along the river.
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1848
Typed ↗
Patent to James Raymond — Outlot 11, Division Z
Patent · The 1848 state patent whose south line — 60 yards below the bluff — defines the boundary. Also available handwritten.
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1850
PDF ↗
Land Split Off from the Reserve — Division E
Report & law · The 1850 survey and Act creating Division E from the reserved lands.
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1850
PDF ↗
Remaining Reserve Lands
History · What remained of the 400-acre Reserve after Division E was sold.
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1863
PDF ↗
Detail of Outlots 1 & 11 and the Reserve
Map · A detail showing Outlots 1 and 11 and the Reserve to the south.
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1871
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Map of the Raymond Plateau Subdivision
Map · Raymond's 1871 subdivision of Outlot 11 into blocks.
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1880
Scan ↗
Raymond → Railroad, 60-yard strip
Deed · Raymond's sale to the I&GN Railroad of the strip "sixty yards wide, lying under the main bluff." Also typed transcript.
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1885
PDF ↗
Plat of the Raymond Plateau Subdivision
Plat · Shows the bluff line — the best evidence of the 1848 boundary and the basis for the 180-foot offset.
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1945
PDF ↗
Resolution to Sell the Reserves & River to Austin
State grant · Contains the reversion clause: any part later sold by the City "shall revert to the State."
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1949
PDF ↗
Ordinance closing Baylor Street south of 3rd
Ordinance · The 1949 street closure and railroad "driveway and street" arrangement near the depot.
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1953
PDF ↗
Janes → Railroad
Deed · A 1953 conveyance in the chain of title near the tract.
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1961
PDF ↗
Railroad → City, 5-acre tract
Deed · Missouri Pacific's sale to the City of the tract under the bluff — later found to reach into the Reserve.
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1963
PDF ↗
City of Austin → Boy Scouts, 5-acre tract
Deed · The conveyance that, on the reversion argument, returned Reserve land to the State.
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1967
PDF ↗
Boy Scouts → YMCA, 5-acre tract
Deed · The YMCA's 1967 purchase of the tract.
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1985
PDF ↗
Ordinance dedicating Town Lake Parkland
Ordinance · The 1985 dedication of most City waterfront land, including Reserve lands, as parkland.
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1985
PDF ↗
Jetco Street ordinance & Council minutes
Ordinance · The 1985 Jetco Street ordinance, with the related Council minutes.
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1987
PDF ↗
Court of Appeals Opinion — Reserve Suit 1
Court opinion · The 1987 appellate opinion in the first Sand Beach Reserve suit (east of Lamar).
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1987
PDF ↗
Research by Joe Riddell (1980s)
Analysis Riddell's research files from the 1980s Reserve litigation, in which he served as an assistant attorney general.
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1988
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YMCA Town Lake Subdivision Plat
Plat · The 1988 one-lot, 4.80-acre subdivision plat. Pages 1 and 2.
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1988
PDF ↗
YMCA Restrictive Covenant
Covenant · Requires adequate parkland before the property may be used for any residential purpose.
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1993
PDF ↗
State v. City of Austin & MPRR
Court opinion · The 1993 Third Court of Appeals decision on the "public purposes" restriction and State standing.
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1997
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Texas Natural Resources Code §31.068
Statute · The 1997 provision granting the Land Commissioner and Attorney General standing to enforce such restrictions.
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1997
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Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary
Survey · A 1997 boundary study by Glover, with a research table of contents.
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1998
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Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary (1998)
Survey · Glover's continued boundary analysis.
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1999
PDF ↗
O'Hara — Surveyor's Report on Sand Beach Reserve
Survey report · Bill O'Hara's analysis of six boundary lines, finding Metcalfe's 1916 line "in the wrong position."
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1999
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Exhibit O to the O'Hara Report
Survey map · The large boundary map from which the Conflict Map is adapted. See also the east-side excerpt.
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1999
PDF ↗
Austin Chronicle — "Sand Beach Battle"
News · A 1999 Austin Chronicle article on the earlier Reserve dispute.
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1984–2006
PDF ↗
Guide to the East-of-Lamar Lawsuits
Analysis Riddell's guide to the three lawsuits and agreements over the Reserve east of Lamar, 1984–2006.
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2001
PDF ↗
Settlement Agreement (2001)
Legal · The February 2001 settlement in the third east-of-Lamar suit.
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2001
PDF ↗
State's Plea in Intervention
Legal · The State's 2001 plea in intervention in the litigation.
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2001
PDF ↗
Boundary Line Agreement & Final Judgment
Legal · The recorded 2001 boundary line agreement and final judgment.
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2001
PDF ↗
Zoning Change Review (2001)
City record · The September 2001 zoning change review the Council ultimately voted down.
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2001
PDF ↗
LIC → City conveyance
Conveyance · A 2001 conveyance recorded in connection with the east-of-Lamar agreements.
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2006
PDF ↗
"Master Agreement" Ordinance (New Settlement)
Ordinance · The 2006 ordinance whose road network is on the ground today.
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2006
PDF ↗
Bowie Street Ordinance
Ordinance · The companion 2006 Bowie Street ordinance.
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2025
PDF ↗
Purchase & Sale of the Y — Memo
Record · A February 2025 memo on the purchase and sale arrangement for the YMCA property.
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2025
PDF ↗
YMCA PUD Development Assessment — Case CD-2025-0003
City / applicant filing · The official Development Assessment briefing report for the proposed Planned Unit Development. The primary source for the current proposal page.
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Plan
Link ↗
Volma Overton, Sr. Beach Vision Plan
External City plan · The City's vision plan for the adjacent parkland the proposal would reconfigure.
About the collection.
These are the documents gathered by Joe Riddell — roughly four dozen primary and near-primary sources, plus a few of his own research summaries (marked as analysis). A small number of records referenced in the chronology, such as the 1916 Metcalfe survey, are not yet posted. Corrections and additions are welcome; see About the archive.