Location
Tarrytown is a neighborhood located west of Downtown Austin, Texas. The neighborhood is bordered by Lake Austin Boulevard on the south, Lake Austin on the west, West 35th Street on the north and Mopac Expressway on the east. Major roads in the area include Exposition Boulevard, Enfield Road and Windsor Road. Tarrytown also encompasses the sub-neighborhood of Brown Herman.
Tarrytown is most often defined as the area bounded by Enfield Road in the South, 35th Street in the North, MoPac Expressway in the East, and Lake Austin in the West. The neighborhood has two shopping outlets: Tarrytown Center and Casis Village, both of which feature local businesses. The neighborhood is also home to two schools, Casis Elementary and O. Henry Middle School.
About the Tarrytown neighborhood
Tarrytown is a genteel residential neighborhood displaying a range of architectural styles along oak tree-canopied streets. A contemporary art museum, Laguna Gloria, occupies a riverside Italianate-style villa built in 1916. The area also boasts a historic golf course, a spring-fed pool and a 23-acre nature preserve with roaming peacocks. Lake Austin Boulevard offers restaurants and bars, including some on the water.
History of the neighborhood
The land where Tarrytown currently exists was originally a 365 acres (1.48 km2) estate known as Woodlawn, containing a mansion designed in 1853 by master builder Abner H. Cook (who also designed the Texas Governor’s Mansion) for Texas State Comptroller, James Shaw. Shaw sold the estate to Texas governor Elisha M. Pease and his wife Lucadia Christiane Niles Pease in 1857.[2]
In 1916, Governor Pease’s daughter, Julia, and grandson Niles Graham joined Graham’s cousin Murray subdivided most of the estate’s land and formed the Enfield Realty and Home Building Company, which developed much of the neighborhoods in Old West Austin, including Old Enfield, Pemberton Heights, and Bryker Woods. The company’s secretary, Paul Crusemann, married Pease’s granddaughter, Carrie Margaret Graham, who became a partner and co-developer of the firm.[3] The first phase of the Tarrytown development, named for the family’s summer retreat in Tarrytown, New York,[4] opened on November 4, 1934, with several additional phases opening in the following years.[3] In 1939, Carrie Graham Crusemann and Niles Graham opened the Tarrytown Shopping Center on the intersection of Windsor Road and Exposition Boulevard.[5]
Tarrytown caught the eye of the national media when animal rights activist Jeanne Crusemann Daniels, great-granddaughter of Governor Pease, inherited the Tarrytown Shopping Center in 1999 and imposed bans on the sale of animal products or items deemed harmful to animals. [5] The ethically-minded restrictions led some tenants, including the popular burger restaurant Holiday House, to close their doors and over time, and they made way for companies more aligned with her vision of protecting animals from needless harm.
Tarrytown Attractions
Mozart’s– coffee, milkshakes & sunsets by the water
Hula Hut – chips, salsa & Mexican martinis
Tarrytown Pharmacy, originally owned by Guy Kelly, opened its doors the day before Pearl Harbor Day on December 6, 1941, at 3310 Windsor Road. Soon thereafter Mr. Kelly sold the store to Gatewood Newberry, a local investor and businessman. In 1950 Gatewood sold the store to his younger brother Jack (J.D.) Newberry, who lived on Cherry Lane with his wife, Helen, and two children Brian and Neal. J.D. raised his family in Tarrytown, eventually moving to Mountain Laurel Lane to a development his uncle William Gatewood had established. J.D. and Helen had two more children – Keith and Sharon – and continued running the store until 1973.
That year, JD and Helen’s eldest son Brian and wife Judy purchased the store. Brian had graduated from The University of Texas College of Pharmacy in 1968 and spent 5 years gaining experience in chain stores and hospital pharmacies in Austin and Dallas. When Brian took over operations, he made the decision to remove the Soda Fountain and expanded the inventory. The pharmacy continued its legacy as a central gathering place for Tarrytown residents.
In 1986, Brian and his wife Gail moved into a larger space across the parking lot, next door to the Tarrytown Post Office. The move enabled the Newberrys to expand their gift, card, and cosmetic offerings while maintaining efficient pharmacy operations. Tarrytown Pharmacy has been a backbone of the neighborhood, and the Austin community, for over 75 years. We regularly donate merchandise, time, and funds to local schools and charities and we pride ourselves in our community service – service that begins with our customers. We know their names and their families, and they know ours. Many of them have been shopping with us for five generations and we value their trust and loyalty.
Tarrytown Pharmacy continues to be owned and operated by the Newberry family – the third generation owner Mark Newberry, and his wife Leslie Newberry, are continuing in Brian and J.D.’s traditions of service, community, and dependability.
Public schools in the Tarrytown attendance zone
Casis Elementary School is a highly rated elementary school with 569 students in grades PK-5 with a student teacher ration of 13 to 1. 76% of students are at least proficient in math with 82% 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
