Castle Hill

In the mid 1850s in Bastrop, Texas, about an hour east of Austin (in the vicinity of the Guyton Ranchette), the Texas Military Institute was founded. The TMI was suspended during the Civil War, and during Reconstruction, Bastrop didn't have the cash to repair damage that was caused by a fire. The Northern occupiers/overseers weren't too keen on letting a military-type institute get rekindled, but the capital city--Austin--provided a large sum of money in gold, and the TMI was reopened on the outskirts of town in a brand new structure in the late 1870s.

That's one story. Here's a second story:

On a Saturday I would be working later, I was telephoned by a friend inviting me out for quick round of disc golf--a quick nine holes, and back in time for lunch and a shower. I accepted, and was escorted to Pease Park, home to a beautiful, if tree covered, disc-golf course. Much to our surprise, the corse was overrun, and not simply by weekend warriors, it was in fact a professional tournament, and the vast number of golfers waiting to throw was discouraging. Not this day, we decided, and my friend offered to buy me a beer as consolation. I accepted, and was escorted on a quick turnaround maneuver; a quick right turn up a hill, another right, and then a third, back down the hill and into a parking lot. On the middle plateau on that quick turnaround I looked up and saw this:



Most Austinites I've asked about this castle don't know what I'm talking about and don't understand where the neighborhood gets its name. The ones that have seen it were as perplexed about it as I, and even Wikipedia is at a loss on this one.

This neighborhood of Austin, around 12th and Lamar, is called Castle Hill, with good reason, if you're constantly in the shadows of that. On my second Shoal Creek Trail ride I made one goal to get over to it and take pictures, climb up as far as I could, find out what I could...What I didn't do beforehand was proper research; I did that after.

The Castle was the original structure that was used for the TMI once it moved to Austin, built on a hill overlooking Shoal Creek. It is accessible from 11th, farther up the hill. The TMI was absorbed into the ROTC sometime after WWII, and the castle lost a tower to fire after generally being abandoned. It was purchased recently and has had a few tenants, usually real estate brokers or architects, between times of emptiness.

In the following pictures the strange concrete and weed moat that seems to surround it is the abandoned foundations of a failed condo project. It took me twenty minutes to pick the burrs out of my leg hairs, and another forty when I got home to pluck them off my socks.

I guess I just try to find out cities' strange sights and histories...that information seeks me out, using me to convey it to the greater world I suppose...

Here are some more cool pictures: