Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park, Austin, Texas

Ever wondered about the history of Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park, for example Why is it called "Commons Ford"? Was it a public ford of the river perhaps? Here's where the name probably comes from.

An 1880 travis county property owners map shows the land where Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park is located, appears to have been owned by one P.H. Cammans ("a" not "o"):

http://www.loc.gov/resource/g4033t.la001148/

Then a later map in 1896 shows what appears to be the same tract of land as belonging to Wm. H. Cammons, the first "a" is now an "o" .. looks like the mutation towards "Commons" has begun:

http://www.loc.gov/resource/g4033t.la001149/

The park, and the ford, are based on that ranch; which explains where the "ranch" in the park name comes from. Don't know if WH was son of PH, or if WH was another corruption / correction to PH?

I ran across this while doing research for Santa Monica Springs, which is near this ford (under the lake; on other side from park), and Dick Preece (Texas Ranger involved in "chasing Comanches") owned land just north of the river too. Verbiage I wrote on Santa Monica Springs for another post:

Santa Monica or Sulphur Springs. Brune says these springs were once the basis for Comanche and Tonkawa Indian campgrounds. Gelo called them “a watering place” for the Comanche[14] , and are about 6.6 kilometers south of Comanche Peak and Defeat Hollow, the location of an encounter between Joel Harris, an early settler to Hudson Bend, and Indians, probably Comanche.[15] The springs were also a favorite resort for early Austinites, and the waters were bottled and highly valued for medicinal purposes. It’s worth noting that the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has an incorrect location for the springs, showing them in the Steiner Ranch neighborhood by the lake. The springs were in fact on the edge of the Colorado River, and now beneath Lake Austin, located across from what is now Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park, Austin, TX.[16] (30.343658,-97.88892)

So given the history of Santa Monica springs, and Dick Preece chasing Comanches, Commons Ford is of particular interest because it was probably on a trail that ran from Comanche Peak / Deafeat Hollow just north of there (Oasis Restaurant), south entering Austin probably via the Mount Bonnell trail.

Click here for link to Austin Parks, Commons Ford Ranch Metro Park

P.H. Cammans tract. Click to enlarge