What does Bull Creek Road have to do with Bull Creek?

Bull Creek ca. 1920. Old Model-T parked near today's Lakewood Dr.

There is a question that Austinites – new and old – sometimes perplex over: why is there a road named Bull Creek Road that is nowhere close to Bull Creek? Go to Google Maps and type in “Bull Creek Road, Austin, TX”. It will likely drop you near the intersection of Bull Creek Road and 45th Street. Close to Shoal Creek; miles from Bull Creek.

Barkley’s The History of Travis County and Austin states "The Mormons are credited with construction, in 1846, of one of Travis County's oldest roads to the northwest, the one that today [1963] is a scenic drive along Bull Creek to the Spicewood Springs Road, and which then led to a mill on Bull Creek used after the Mormon Mill [at the base of Mt Bonnell on the Colorado River] washed away". Yes, there were water powered mills on Bull Creek, but that’s another story.

Back in the day, before roads had numbers (Loop 360, US 183), folks named roads for where they went; their destination. If you were living in early Austin and someone built a road that took you out to Bull Creek, what would you name it? Bull Creek Road! That naming convention had flaws[1] which eventually led to the modern convention of road numbers. But Bull Creek Road is an old road based on that old convention from the early days of Austin.

So Bull Creek Road was the way to get to Bull Creek. But how? Go back to Google Maps and this time type in “Old Bull Creek Road, Austin, TX”. What you'll see is a little side road that detours off present day RM 2222. Guess what 2222 used to be called? You got it, Bull Creek Road[2].

Of course as with all roads, tweaks in the route were made over time. Austin’s first dam, "The Great Granite Dam", was completed in 1893[3]. That same year a committee was appointed to investigate reports that Bull Creek Road was impassable. They reported: "We have visited the creek .. the road and crossing known as Bull creek road (sic) has been submerged by the back water from the city's dam .. the pontoon bridge erected by the city at the said crossing has been carried away ..". Rather than replace the pontoon bridge with another, their recommendation was the "erection of a substantial and permanent bridge over Bull creek and the cutting out of a road from said creek to the Mount Bonnell road..".

On some maps 2222 was labeled Bull Creek Road all the way to FM 620[4], but initially it probably just ran to Bull Creek taking a right on what is now Lakewood Drive. That’s right, Lakewood Drive used to be Bull Creek Road. And as described by Barkley, it then ran up the creek to intersect with what is today Old Spicewood Springs Road.

One final twist. What is now Spicewood Springs Road north of Loop 360 was also Bull Creek Road. It was up this stretch of Bull Creek Road the Mormon’s probably built their mill. County road maps from 1898-1902 show it continued on past Oak Grove Cemetery turning left on today’s Old Lampasas Trail, terminating at the the old Oak Grove School.

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas) · 10 Jul 1894, Tue · Page 4. Notice to contractors describing work to be done on improving Bull Creek Road, iron bridge over the creek, and a "wagon road (hillside cut)" on the side of Cat Mountain.

Snippet from 1933 Austin streets, guide map. Bull Creek Road is called out and originates as a branch off 34th. This road is shown in 1895 USGS maps of Austin (but roads are not labeled).

Bull Creek Road. Travis County Clerk Records: Road Book Precinct 2, 1898/1902, p. 354. Bull Creek as it intersects with Spicewood Springs, then turns left (north) up East Bull Creek. This final section up East Bull Creek is today called Spicewood Springs Rd north of Loop 360, eventually terminating as Old Lampasas Trail.

Bull Creek Road. Travis County Clerk Records: Road Book Precinct 2, 1898/1902, p. 356. Section of Bull Creek that is today Lakewood Drive / Loop 360.

Bull Creek Road. Travis County Clerk Records: Road Book Precinct 2, 1898/1902, p. 358. This segment is today Spicewood Springs north of Loop 360.

Snippet 1959 USGS, Lake Travis Quadrangle. Lakewood Drive appears, RM 2222 up to Four Points is Bull Creek Road

 

1893, The Great Granite Dam on the Colorado River 

As noted above, the completion of the 1893 dam on the Colorado impacted the route of Bull Creed Road. An article from 1880 provides a clue on the previous route as it left Austin: "The new road from Austin to the mouth of Bull creek (sic) is finished as far as Dry creek (sic). This work has been done by the people of Bull creek ... now the county will have a bridge placed across the creek, and complete the road to town. The road follows the river bank from the mouth of Bull creek to Mount Bonnell."

Interestingly, a remnant of that Old (older yet!) Bull Creek Road remains. If you go to Google Earth (not Google Maps as before) and search for "Old Bull Creek Road, Austin, Texas" you'll find a small segment of road, just south of Mt. Bonnell that is an extension of today's 35th street; that sliver of road proceeds straight into Lake Austin. If you also look you will see "Mormon Springs" just to the north; Google Earth is bad about precise spring locations, but this area around Mt. Bonnell is where the Mormon's built that first mill that washed away. The "Mormon Springs" is probably a tie to time.

1880's original route south of Mt. Bonnell

Google Earth shows section of the old (oldest?) Bull Creek Road as it runs into today's Lake Austin

Snippet from 1933 Austin streets, guide map. Notice Bull Creek Road is now turning north rather than continuing east to the lake south of Mt. Bonnell. This was probably the re-route due to the creation of the lake.

 

 

1972 highway map that shows Old Bull Creek Road as a continuation of 35th, passing south of Mt. Bonnell terminating at Lake Austin. [6]

1894 USGS shows route described in 1880 news article before construction of dam and creating of Lake McDonald.

1955, The Austin Memorial Cemetery Re-route

Bull Creek Road got one more re-route sometime after 1955. Whereas the post 1893 dam route (the one shown in the 1898-1902 County road books) previously took a westerly turn at today's intersection of Bull Creed Road and Hancock Drive, the city decided to extend it on the north side of Austin Memorial Cemetery running north to White Horse Trail as it does today [5]. 

Ca. 1955 extension north of Austin Memorial Cemetery

References, Notes

Photo of Bull Creek ca. 1920 purchased from Austin History Center.

[1] For example, in time there were multiple routes to get from Austin to Burnet, Texas, all named Burnet Road; and folks in Burnet called the same road the Austin road; gets confusing.

[2] RM 2222 was also called Burnet Road at one time or another; another flaw in the old naming scheme: roads have multiple destinations. Throw in the complication that sometimes roads got renamed for famous people, like David Burnet, 1st ad interim president of the Republic of Texas, and you see why they decided to start using the road numbering scheme.

[3] This report is from the Austin Daily Statesman, Oct 18, 1893. As an aside, that dam washed away in 1900.

[4] USGS 1959 Lake Travis Quadrangle is a fairly recent map showing this. In old newspapers article I think this section of road was what was referred to as West Bull Creek Road, i.e. the section of 2222 today north of Loop 360 along West Bull Creek.

[5] see Northwest Park Site Study Set, Austin American, 20 May 1955. Discusses extension north of Austin Memorial Cemetery.

[6] Texas State Highway Department, Planning Survey Division, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 1963. Highways revised to May 1, 1972. Available at Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Map shows Old Bull Creek Road as a continuation of 35th, passing south of Mt. Bonnell terminating at Lake Austin. Before Lake Austin it would have continued on turning north up the Colorado River en-route to Bull Creek. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/apps/arc/maps/maplookup/05675