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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1839
PDF ↗
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 General Land Office 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
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Gordon's Garden
History · The early history of the tract that became Outlot 11.
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1840
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Map of the Outlots (Sandusky / Reich)
Map · The 1840 Outlots map as copied in 1863, at a scale of 1 inch to 600 feet, 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
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Remaining Reserve Lands
Analysis Joe Riddell's annotated orientation map identifying east and west Reserve tracts and former Reserve lands.
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1863
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Detail of Outlots 1 & 11 and the Reserve
Map · A detail from the 1863 copy of the Outlots map, 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,” requiring that a good roadway be left under the tracks for public use. Also available as a typed transcript.
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1885
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Plat of the Raymond Plateau Subdivision
Plat · At a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, shows the bluff line — the best evidence of the 1848 boundary and the basis for the 180-foot offset.
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1945
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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
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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
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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 a five-acre tract west of Lamar. Riddell contends that its southern portion extends into the Reserve.
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1963
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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
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Boy Scouts → YMCA, 5-acre tract
Deed · The YMCA's 1967 purchase of the tract.
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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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1985
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Jetco Street ordinance & Council minutes
Ordinance · The 1985 Jetco Street ordinance, with the related Council minutes.
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1985
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Ordinance dedicating Town Lake Parkland
Ordinance · The 1985 dedication of City waterfront lands as parkland, while reserving perpetual-use easements for existing utilities, drainage structures, streets, and rights-of-way.
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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
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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 Restrictive Covenant
Covenant · Provides that the property may not be used or developed for residential purposes until adequate parkland is provided according to City standards.
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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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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 concerning restrictive covenants affecting state property, restrictions in state conveyances, and specified statutory restrictions.
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1997
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Ansel Gary Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary
Survey · Registered professional land surveyor Ansel Gary Glover's 1997 study of competing boundary locations, with a research table of contents.
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1998
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Ansel Gary Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary (1998)
Survey · Glover's continued analysis of the competing boundary locations.
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1999
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Austin Chronicle — "Sand Beach Battle"
News · A 1999 Austin Chronicle article on the earlier Reserve dispute.
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1999
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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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2001
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Settlement Agreement (2001)
Legal · The February 2001 settlement in the third east-of-Lamar suit.
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2001
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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
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Zoning Change Review (2001)
City record · The September 2001 zoning change review the Council ultimately voted down.
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2001
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LIC → City conveyance
Conveyance · A 2001 conveyance from Lumbermen's Investment Corporation (LIC) to the City. In adopting the Metcalfe boundary, the Settlement Agreement ceded to LIC about 2 acres of the Reserve, but it also provided for LIC to convey 0.609 acres back to the City.
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2006
PDF ↗
Bowie Street Ordinance
Ordinance · The companion 2006 Bowie Street ordinance.
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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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2017
Link ↗
Volma Overton, Sr. Beach Vision Plan
External City plan · The 2017 vision plan for adjacent parkland; the formal PUD application references it in describing proposed park improvements.
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2025
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Purchase & Sale of the Y — Memo
Record · Filed in the county's property records to provide notice that the land in the YMCA Town Lake Subdivision was under contract to be sold to Millennium.
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2025
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YMCA PUD Development Assessment — Case CD-2025-0003
City / applicant filing · The earlier Development Assessment briefing report for the proposed Planned Unit Development, retained as background to the formal 2026 application.
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2026
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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2026
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Key Events in the History of Sand Beach Reserve
Chronology · Joe Riddell's June 2026 index to the historical archive, beginning in 1839. The website timeline carries the record forward through the July 2026 PUD filing.
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2026
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TownLake YMCA PUD — Formal Application Package
City / applicant filing · The 92-page formal PUD application package filed July 24, 2026. This is the principal source for the current proposal page.
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2026
Read →
PUD Land Use Plan Notes — readable transcription
Transcription An unofficial, readable transcription of the Land Use Plan Notes on Sheets 5–6 (pages 71–72) of the formal PUD application — the site development regulations, the 435-foot height and 7.5:1 FAR bonuses, and the requested code modifications. Typos corrected and reformatted for reading; the filed application controls.
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2026
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Computation of Size of Area in Conflict
Analysis Joe Riddell's August 2026 worksheet overlays a counting grid on O'Hara's 1999 survey map: of 330.8 squares over the subdivision, 133.7 fall in the conflict area — about 40%, roughly 1.9 of the 4.80 acres. A manual map-based estimate, not a boundary survey. Replaces the computation withdrawn August 3.
About the collection.
This is a growing collection of primary and near-primary sources gathered by Joe Riddell, 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.