Posted: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:29 AM - 9,335 Readers
By: Don Dorsett
I was born in Austin's Brackenridge Hospital on East Avenue, now called Interstate 35. The year was 1936. We lived in the 10th Ward, now part of East Austin.
Our home was only a few blocks from the Colorado River, although I did not see the river until I was grown. Our mother would not let my brother and me near it because it was said to be full of sinkholes where we could drown. A peach tree branch convinced us to pay attention to what she said.
We were also not allowed to swim in the Metz swimming pool because of the fear we would catch polio. I finally learned to swim as a teenager, jumping off a cliff on Bull Creek.
My mother's parents lived with us and slept in our living room. This was before rest homes and assisted living. It was wonderful having them with us. My grandfather had a garden and kept a milk cow named Jersey. We always had sweet cream in the ice box. My grandfather never understood the lure of people to the west side of town: "That soil will not grow anything," he would say.
My first memories are hearing about the big flood on the river a few years before I was born. Grandmother told about a butter dish still resting on a table that floated near the ceiling of our home.
World War II began when I was 5. I heard the president announce the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio. Dad was a truck driver, and we were the envy of the neighborhood because we always had stamps for gas.
My brother and I had soldier outfits and we set up images of Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo in our yard to throw rocks at them. One of our favorite activities was taking a bus to the Sixth Street district with money for haircuts.
The barber college would cut our hair for free, and we would spend the money at the Ritz Theatre seeing the Lone Ranger, Tim Holt, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and other cowboy movie idols.
I skipped a grade in school because my brother was smart — go figure! It wasn't easy to follow a brother who was outstanding in academics, but my struggle was probably more emotional than academic. My mother's illness and death at an early age was the kind of loss that is hard on kids, and teachers help bridge that chasm. I still remember Ms. Perkins, my Metz teacher; Ms. Pennybacker at Allan Junior High; Mrs. Coates at Summit Rural School. Without Mrs. Hutchinson at Round Rock High School, I never would have made it.
My very first job was in a bowling alley west of Congress Avenue downtown, near Nixon Clay Business College. My brother and I tilted on a ledge between two alleys and jumped down to reset the pins after each strike. We were lucky not to break a leg. I must have been about 6 or 7 at the time; my brother was two years older.
We also sold soda pop at University of Texas football games. Bobby Layne, one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, was everyone's idol. I still feel a chill when the band plays "The Eyes Of Texas."
The landmark in Austin at that time was Woolworth's at Sixth and Congress — it had a great soda fountain. I lost a toenail going through their revolving door barefoot. My first job after high school was selling shoes at Scarbroughs department store across the street. I quickly discovered that women have narrow feet.
My father's brother lived in West Austin on Enfield Road — the house they built before I was born still stands — and their mother not far away on Bonnie Road. This area has changed very little over the years. I vividly remember the smell of the cedar breaks on Bonnie Road, and there were so many birds!
We shagged golf balls at Lions Municipal Golf Course with our two cousins and caddied some. There was a little store on Lake Austin Boulevard where we bought soda and candy with the money we earned.
We moved to the country in 1950 to a small farm located at FM 1325, extending north from Burnet Road, now called MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1). Our place was on Little Walnut Creek at the intersection of Parmer Lane and Loop 1.
When we first moved there, we hauled water from the community water well at Waters Park until we could drill for water. I remember our propane tank washing away during a big rain. It ended up three miles down Walnut Creek.
I hunted about every day for rabbits and other varmints with my .22 rifle. I rode my gray mare back and forth to work at the Coxville Zoo and store, where I had a job pumping gas and feeding the animals. The snakes and alligators were really fun to mess with, and of course, the monkeys. It was a good zoo.
The only houses that I can recall on Parmer at that time was ours and the Pierce Dairy. The area west of our place became the Round Rock Independent School District. (To answer an obvious question: No, we didn't get rich — Daddy sold the land way back, before it became so valuable.)
I am 72 years old now and retired. Most of my career was with the Texas State Teachers Association.
I always had great respect for educators and the positive impact they had on my life, and I became one myself — first, a teacher, then a principal and school superintendent. All three of my daughters became teachers, too. I still have a sincere desire to help young people cope with the many issues they must face and try my best to help when I can.
I grew up here between 1936 and 1954, and the city has changed a great deal since then. It was my hope that other Austinites my age, who may relate to my story, would be able to read it while we're still above ground.
