Location
Barton Hills includes the area bounded by Rabb Road and South Lamar to the east, Ben White to the south, the greenbelt to the west, and Barton Springs to the north.
Bordering Lady Bird Lake, the Barton Hills area is a top destination for outdoor recreation. 350-acre Zilker Park features a spring-fed pool called Barton Springs, plus botanical gardens, a sculpture garden and athletic fields. It also plays host to the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival. The Barton Creek Greenbelt offers miles of rugged hiking and biking trails as well as seasonal swimming holes.
About the Barton Hills neighborhood
Home to Austin landmark The Broken Spoke, residents in Barton Hills have access to urban activities along South Lamar and South First Street, as well as multiple access points to the Barton Creek Greenbelt Nature Preserve for trail running, hiking, creek swimming and rock climbing. Barton Springs, Lady Bird Lake, and downtown are all accessible within minutes. People tend to settle here because they want to be close-in and love to take advantage of the variety of outdoor activities.
History of the neighborhood
Records show that the Spanish established three missions near Barton Springs in the 1730s, but the area didn’t begin to see significant development until the 1950s. In 1837, William “Uncle Billy” Barton set up his pioneer homestead near a natural spring on the southern bank of the Colorado River, naming the springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. Their names did not stick, but William’s did and 160 years later the springs, the pool, and several popular Austin neighborhoods bear the name “Barton.”
The neighborhood was featured in Austin’s 1956 Parade of Homes as “the world’s largest air conditioned subdivision.”
Attractions in the Neighborhood
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company believe our beer has the power to make everything better. A fresh, hot pizza. A nice big Muffuletta sandwich. A great band on Saturday night. And hanging out in the shade of our beer garden with your pup, friends, and fellow Austinites. We also believe our beer has the power to make our entire community better. We strive to take beer’s innate goodness and put it into action improving our neighborhood, city, and the lives of lots of folks. Come hang out with us , or order to go online and pick it all up. We’re at 1305 W. Oltorf in Austin. Cheers!
Zilker Park is considered “Austin’s most-loved park.” This 351-acre metropolitan park is home to a variety of recreation opportunities, facilities and special events for individuals and families. Today, the park serves as a hub for many recreational activities and includes major facilities and amenities including, but not limited to, Barton Springs Pool, Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin Nature and Science Center, Zilker Clubhouse, Girl Scout Lodge, Sunshine Camp, Zilker Hillside Theater, Zilker Caretaker Lodge, Umlauf Sculpture Gardens, and McBeth Recreation Center, the Butler Hike and Bike Trail, and Barton Creek Trail. The park is home to large-scale events such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Trail of Lights, and Zilker Park Kite Festival.
Barton Springs Pool located within Zilker Park’s 358 acres lies one of the crown jewels of Austin – Barton Springs Pool. The pool itself measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited, topless sunbathers who turned heads in the 1970s. Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting family in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000 in recent years.
The Springs serves as home to the endangered Barton Springs Salamander, and is listed as a federally protected habitat. Depths of the pool range from 0’ to 18′ with surrounding grassy areas for patrons to lounge upon. Adjacent to the pool bathhouse is Splash!, an educational exhibit where patrons can learn about the history and biology of Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer which feeds it.
Public schools in Barton Hills
The Austin Independent School District serves the neighborhood. Schools include Barton Hills Elementary (K-6) and Zilker Elementary (PK-5), O Henry Middle School (6-8) and Austin High School (9-12).
Barton Hills Elementary School is a highly rated elementary school with 396 students in grades K-6 with a student teacher ration of 15 to 1. 66% of students are proficient in math while 70% are proficient in reading.
Zilker Elementary School is a highly rated elementary school with 443 students in grades PK-5 with a student teacher ration of 13 to 1. 63% of the students are proficient in math while 73% of students are proficient in reading.
O. Henry Middle School is a highly rated middle school with 924 students and a 16 to 1 student teacher ratio. 57% of students are proficient in math while 56% of students are proficient in reading. O. Henry Middle School is named for short story writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name of O. Henry. Located in central west Austin, the school offers strong academic programming and a focus on social and emotional learning as well as band, orchestra, athletics and pre-AP courses. O. Henry was named a 2012 Schools to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. The school earned the recognition for challenging students to use their minds well, being sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence and providing every student with high-quality teachers and resources.
Austin High School is a highly rated public school with 2,349 students and a 18 to 1 student teacher ratio. 46% of students are proficient in math while 74% of students are proficient in reading. Located in the heart of the city, Austin High School, is the oldest continuously operating public high school in Texas. Austin High’s long tradition of excellence aims to recreate the urban school experience and assure that all students gain the skills and experience to be successful after high school. By embracing our small learning community academy programming, diversity of our students and faculty, and Social Emotional Learning, we educate the whole child and espouse that “everybody is somebody” at Austin High
