Brackenridge Park is San Antonio’s largest park. It first began as a 199-acre park donated by George Brackenridge, and it has grown over the years to 400 acres. Now, 125 years after its creation, the city is throwing a birthday party — the Big Brack Bash — on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Conservancy Director of Development Lynn Bobbitt said the park has played a major role in the city’s collective consciousness. “We wanted to do something to celebrate the memories that people have of activities that occurred in the park and then create some new memories for people,” she explained.
The party will offer food, music — Santiago Jimenez Jr. begins his set at 3:30 p.m. — and even an antique car show. “They are going to have 40 cars here that will be part of their car show, and people can talk to them about the different cars, and then we'll present 10 awards for the best cars for the day,” she added.
Before the widespread availability of air conditioning, many families spent their free time in places like Brackenridge, where shade and cool water were plentiful.
Bobbitt asked the public to bring family photos of the park. The images will be scanned and become part of the public record.
One of Bobbitt's favorite memories of the park was lazy drives through the low-water crossing just southeast of the zoo.
“I grew up here in San Antonio, and that was one of my favorite things when I was growing up, to drive through the low-water crossing,” she said. “So it's going to be open for the day, for people to be able to drive through it.”
She noted that most big cities don't have anything as big or as historically significant as Brackenridge Park.
“There really is nothing else like this. ... As we learned from the Cultural Landscape Foundation, based in [Washington D.C.], they think that there's really not another park like this because of the 12,000 years of documented habitation, the river running through it, and the culture and history. But there's really not anything like it in Texas, [or] the United States,” Bobbitt said.
The birthday party is free. It begins at noon and ends at 5 p.m.
