Posted: Fri, 6 May 2016 08:43 AM - 42,962 Readers

By: Austin American Statesman

Travel back in time to discover Lakeway’s history when the popular Heritage Trail Tour returns May 6 to visit many of the city’s 21 historical sites.

Lakeway Heritage Commission members will guide the free bus tours that will leave at 9:15 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. from the Lakeway Heritage Center, 963 Lohmans Crossing. Each tour will last about one hour and 15 minutes.

The first Heritage Trail Tour celebrated Lakeway’s Golden Anniversary in 2013, and since then docents have informed and entertained more than 500 participants with facts and humorous anecdotes from the history of Lakeway and Lake Travis area.


Volunteer Sue Wright, left, reads off a roll call for the last Lakeway Heritage Trail bus tour in September 2015. The next tour is scheduled for Friday.


Some Heritage Trail Tour highlights are: Blocker House #1, built by one of the three Houston businessmen who founded and developed Lakeway – each house has a beautiful view of Lake Travis; Riding Stables, built on land adjacent to the Lakeway Airpark; Live Oak Golf Course, home to the Parade of Flags, which remains a tradition of every Lakeway Fourth of July celebration; and Alan Shepard’s Home, which was built in 1966 by the astronaut who made history on May 5, 1961, as the first American in space and landed on the moon on his second flight in 1971.

As part of the tour, Lakeway resident Anna-Brita Stevens tells how she gathered with friends for a potluck dinner to watch Shepard’s walk on the moon on TV coverage, but a power outage prevented them from witnessing their friend’s historic feat.

Admission is free for the Heritage Trail Tour, but bus seating is limited and reservations are required. Reserve a seat on the Heritage Tour now by calling the Lakeway Heritage Center at 512-608-9533 or emailing history@lakeway-tx.gov. Be sure to include name, phone number and email address.

*  Story Contributed by: Austin American Statesman