Independent documentary archiveAustin, Texas
SBRSand Beach ReserveA public waterfront record

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.

Documented recordAttributed analysisFilenames carry their dates
Documents
  1. 1839

    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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  2. 1839

    Original Surveys that became the Government Tract

    History · The land certificates and surveys assembled to form Austin's Government Tract.

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  3. 1839

    Plan of the City of Austin

    Map · The original 1839 plan of the city.

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  4. 1839

    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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  5. 1840

    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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  6. 1840

    Gordon's Garden

    History · The early history of the tract that became Outlot 11.

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  7. 1840

    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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  8. 1848

    Patent to James Raymond — Outlot 11, Division Z

    Patent · The 1848 state patent whose south line — 60 yards below the bluff — defines the boundary. Issued October 16, 1848; a notation on the typed copy records it in the Travis County Deed Records on March 20, 1849, Vol. D, p. 29. Also available handwritten.

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  9. 1850

    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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  10. 1850

    Remaining Reserve Lands

    Analysis Joe Riddell's annotated orientation map identifying east and west Reserve tracts and former Reserve lands.

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  11. 1863

    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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  12. 1871

    Map of the Raymond Plateau Subdivision

    Map · Raymond's subdivision of part of Outlot 11 into blocks. The map is undated; it is attributed to about 1871 by a note on the 1885 recorded plat.

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  13. 1880

    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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  14. 1885

    Plat of the Raymond Plateau Subdivision

    Plat · At a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, shows the bluff line. O'Hara's 1999 report treats it as the best surviving evidence of the bluff's 1848 location, and measures the 180-foot offset from it.

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  15. 1916

    Metcalfe — Survey Map of the Sand Beach Reserve

    Survey map · Orin E. Metcalfe's survey map of the Sand Beach Reserve, made upon request of the City of Austin and the State Board of Health. His Plan No. 1626, surveyed December 1916 at a scale of 1 inch to 150 feet, showing Outlots 1 and 11 of Division Z and the Reserve's 77.15 acres down to the Colorado River. Also available: a second print carrying later handwritten notations by an unknown author — notes on the outlot line and the adjoining Raymond's Plateau and Duval subdivisions that appear to bear on the boundary.

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  16. 1916

    Metcalfe — Topographical Map of the Sand Beach Reserve

    Map · Orin E. Metcalfe's topographical map of the Sand Beach Reserve, made for the City of Austin under the direction of the State Board of Health. His Plan No. 1526, dated December 1916, recording the test pits, trenches, filters, wells, gravel-company excavations, drains, the intermittent swamp and the top break of the river bluff that the State Sanitary Engineer asked him to bring out.

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  17. 1917

    Metcalfe — Technical Report on the Location of the Sand Beach Reserve

    Report · Metcalfe's January 1917 report to E. C. Bartholomew, Superintendent of the City's Light & Power Department, and to the City Council, explaining how he located the Reserve. A cover letter, the technical report keyed to his map No. 1626, and field notes of twenty-seven courses closing on 77.15 acres. He records that the records describing the northern boundary were in "extremely poor condition" and that the bluff supposed to control the south line of Outlot 11 "was moved back by flood in the year 1869." Obtained from the General Land Office via the Austin History Center. The copy posted carries yellow highlighting added by a later reader.

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  18. 1945

    Act 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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  19. 1949

    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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  20. 1953

    James → Railroad

    Deed · A 1953 conveyance in the chain of title near the tract.

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  21. 1961

    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 western and southern portions extend into the Reserve.

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  22. 1963

    Resolution authorizing the conveyance to the Boy Scouts

    Resolution · Adopted May 9, 1963 — the Council authority behind the deed executed that June. It directed the City Manager to convey the 5.03-acre tract the City had bought from Missouri Pacific in December 1961, as part of a trade: the Capitol Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America wanted the tract for a headquarters building and gave up in exchange its undivided interest in 112 acres out of the J. C. Tannehill League, which E. G. Kingsbery had offered to the City and the Scouts jointly.

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  23. 1963

    City of Austin → Boy Scouts, 5-acre tract

    Deed · The conveyance that, on Riddell's reversion argument, returned Reserve land to the State. Executed June 17, 1963 under the Council resolution adopted that May.

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  24. 1967

    Boy Scouts → YMCA, 5-acre tract

    Deed · The YMCA's 1967 purchase of the tract.

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  25. 1984–2006

    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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  26. 1985

    Jetco Street ordinance & Council minutes

    Ordinance · The 1985 Jetco Street ordinance, with the related Council minutes.

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  27. 1985

    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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  28. 1987

    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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  29. 1987

    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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  30. 1988

    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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  31. 1988

    YMCA Town Lake Subdivision Plat

    Plat · The 1988 one-lot, 4.80-acre subdivision plat. Pages 1 and 2.

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  32. 1993

    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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  33. 1997

    Aerial view west of Lamar

    Aerial photograph · Vertical aerial view of the Sand Beach Reserve area west of North Lamar Boulevard, showing the ball fields, the Town Lake YMCA, the railroad line and the Colorado River at lower left. The image is re-derived from the City's map service, which is also the source of its recorded extent — approximately 2,075 × 1,184 ft, centred 30.2687° N, 97.7565° W. Source: City of Austin, 1997 Black and White Imagery — 6-inch black-and-white orthoimagery flown February 1997, published by the City on ArcGIS Online.

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  34. 1997

    Texas Natural Resources Code §31.068

    Statute · “Standing to enforce restrictions.” Added in 1997, it gives the Land Commissioner and the Attorney General standing to enforce restrictive covenants affecting State property, restrictions in documents conveying State property, and specified statutory restrictions; the Attorney General may bring suit. The posted text is the current version, as amended since 1997.

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  35. 1997

    Ansel Gary Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary

    Report · Study of the boundary by city employee and registered professional land surveyor Ansel Gary Glover. The Texas General Land Office also holds a notebook compiled by Glover with his research on the boundaries of public lands in Austin. See the research table of contents.

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  36. 1998

    Ansel Gary Glover — Sand Beach Reserve boundary (1998)

    Report · Glover's continued analysis of the competing boundary locations.

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  37. 1999

    Austin Chronicle — "Sand Beach Battle"

    News · A 1999 Austin Chronicle article on the earlier Reserve dispute.

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  38. 1999

    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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  39. 1999

    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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  40. 2001

    Settlement Agreement (2001)

    Legal · The January 8, 2001 settlement between the City and Lumbermen's Investment Corporation in the third east-of-Lamar suit (Cause No. 99-13013).

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  41. 2001

    State's Plea in Intervention

    Legal · The State's 2001 plea in intervention in the litigation.

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  42. 2001

    Boundary Line Agreement & Final Judgment

    Legal · The recorded 2001 boundary line agreement and final judgment.

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  43. 2001

    Zoning Change Review (2001)

    City record · The September 2001 zoning change review the Council ultimately voted down.

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  44. 2001

    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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  45. 2006

    Bowie Street Ordinance

    Ordinance · The companion 2006 Bowie Street ordinance.

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  46. 2006

    "Master Agreement" Ordinance (New Settlement)

    Ordinance · The 2006 ordinance whose road network is on the ground today.

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  47. 2014

    Resolution directing the Lamar Beach Metro Park master plan

    Resolution · Resolution No. 20140612-060, adopted June 12, 2014. The Council directed the City Manager to "initiate and expedite the master planning process for Lamar Beach Metro Park" — the process that produced the 2017 Volma Overton, Sr. Beach Vision Plan. He was directed to create a planning group "which works to maintain partners operating on the site, including WAYA, the YMCA of Austin, and APA," and, in a separate clause, to address "parking options to ensure that existing partners after construction are able to continue their current services."

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  48. 2017

    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. See maps of Phase 1 and Phase 2 visions (December 2016 boards, corresponding to Figures 3 and 4 of the adopted plan).

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  49. 2017

    Vision Plan Site Analysis — labelled aerial (page 31)

    Map · One page of the Volma Overton, Sr. Beach Vision Plan (February 2017): the east half of the site-analysis spread, an aerial naming the ball fields, the Town Lake Animal Center / Austin Pets Alive! building, the Pressler Street warehouses, the Amtrak station and the YMCA. The dotted line is the plan's study-area boundary, which runs along the southern edge of the YMCA tract; the dashed orange line is the railroad.

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  50. 2025

    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, effective January 30, 2025, to MP Austin LLC — the Millennium Partners affiliate named in the transaction. Recorded February 3, 2025.

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  51. 2025

    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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  52. 2026

    Conflict Map

    Analysis Joe Riddell's February 2026 annotation of O'Hara's Exhibit O, shading the area he identifies as falling inside both the YMCA claim and the Reserve. Also available in black & white.

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  53. 2026

    Key Events in the History of Sand Beach Reserve

    Analysis Joe Riddell's June 2026 chronology of the historical archive, beginning in 1839. The website timeline carries the record forward through the July 2026 PUD filing.

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  54. 2026

    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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  55. 2026

    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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  56. 2026

    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.

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  57. 2026

    City of Austin Staff Comments — Master Review Report

    City filing · The consolidated comments of twenty City review disciplines on the TownLake YMCA PUD application, case C814-2026-0001, dated September 1, 2026. Released in response to a Public Information Request. Covers emergency response, parkland and Chapter 26, utilities, floodplain, transportation, zoning and the PUD superiority claims. The applicant's formal response is due January 31, 2027. See the plain-language guide.

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  58. 2026

    City staff comments — a plain-language guide

    Guide to a primary source A summary of the September 1, 2026 Master Review Report written by this archive, organised by subject rather than by department, with every point cited to the City's own comment number so it can be checked against the source. Records what staff approved as well as what remains unresolved.

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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 are not yet posted. Corrections and additions are welcome; see About the archive.