Rivers & Waterways – Brackenridge Park Conservancy

Avenue A at Woodlawn Low Water Crossing

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

Avenue A runs south from Mulberry Avenue, winding between the golf course and the river’s east bank. Back in the day, it used to stretch further east through the golf course and connect to River Road (which used to be called Memorial Drive) on the west side of the river, with a low water crossing at Woodlawn Avenue. But in the late 1960s, the road was closed through the golf course, and now it ends right at the river.

Even though the old river crossing was shut down years ago, the concrete structure is still standing strong! Today, it’s a favorite spot for pedestrians and fishermen. If you look closely, you can find a faint stamp in the concrete that reads, “NYA 1939,” a reminder of the people who built it during the New Deal era.

Lower Pump House

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

The Lower Pump House, also known as the Borglum Studio, is a super cool piece of history! This building was used by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who designed Mount Rushmore. It was originally built during the expansion of the city’s water system, powered by water that flowed from the river about a mile away through a long, earthen raceway. The building itself is made of ashlar limestone and wood framing, and it sits just southeast of the golf clubhouse, right on the edge of an old river channel.

While the raceway was filled in years ago, you can still see parts of it today. If you head over to Mulberry Avenue, you can spot old rubble stone wing walls on the south side of the street, and a depression in the ground where the channel used to run through the golf course. You can even see big pipes sticking out of the building’s basement—those were part of the original pumping system!

Later on, when the pump house was repurposed for other uses, they built a frame addition at the north end, but the stone base remains intact, and you can still find remnants of the old pipes in both the upper and lower levels.

Low Water Crossing

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

Tuleta Drive is home to a cool, historic low water crossing over the San Antonio River that’s been a favorite spot for visitors for over 100 years! Built around 1917, this crossing is a unique spot where water flows smoothly over concrete and stone, making it a fun and picturesque part of the park. It was originally built to connect Koehler Park and Brackenridge Park.

Alamo Dam and Acequia

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

The Alamo Acequia is one of two originating in what is now Brackenridge Park. Constructed in 1719 to serve Mission San Antonio Valero, later known as the Alamo. Each acequia system began with a diversion dam that raised the water behind it high enough to flow into a cut in the bank above. The dam and acequia was badly deteriorated and could not be restored; however, the locations are delineated on the grounds of the Witte Museum and across the San Antonio River.

Lambert Beach and Bathhouse

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

The “beach” is special because it was one of Park Commissioner Ray Lambert’s first projects in Brackenridge Park, and its remodeling and expansion was one of his last projects. In 1915, it was a more natural-looking pool, lined with gravel that was transformed into a more formal swimming pool in 1925, only one year before Lambert’s death. In 1925, concrete stairs and landings were added to provide easy access to the river, and a stone bathhouse replaced rustic dressing rooms. Arched openings on both sides of the building accessed changing rooms.

The roof of the bathhouse was removed in 1992 when the structure was converted to an open‐air “playscape.” A stone-retaining wall separates the bathhouse from the river level. It is partially collapsed. Stairways leading down to the river and adjoining walkways that allowed swimmers to access the river are badly deteriorated. The directive for the areas are: preserve and rehabilitate the Lambert Beach river walls, acequia walls, and upper labor dam; preserve the lily pond walls and water gates; and rehabilitate and restore the pump house structure.

Water Works Raceway

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

The Water Works raceway is a straight, dirt ditch with sloping sides constructed to deliver water from the San Antonio River to the Water Works pump house. As originally constructed, the ditch measured about 40 feet wide and 650 feet long- that’s almost 100 feet longer than The Washington Monument! The raceway was designed with a nine-foot fall that provided power to drive turbines and pumps. Water re‐entered the river at the pump house. Today the raceway is abandoned and dry, but just as large!

Upper Labor Dam

Lorne Barfield on June 9, 2025

The historic Spanish Colonial Upper Labor Dam was begun in 1776 and diverted water from the San Antonio River into an acequia that watered the Upper Labor farm lands (a block of farm land). Used by the growing civil settlement, the acequia ran through what is today’s park, through the San Antonio Zoo towards San Pedro Creek. During park renovation in the 1990s, the stone dam was partially excavated, documented, and covered for protection. The original stone‐lined acequia channel remains intact, and you can see it in both the Park and San Antonio Zoo! The Lily Pond supplies the water to the acequia, and the lower end of the acequia opens and releases water through the Zoo, which is pretty cool to see.

The acequia has been around so long that some of the walls are deteriorating and in need of repair. Many large trees have grown up near the walls and have contributed to the wall deterioration as well as surface drainage from paved areas up slope of the acequia. The acequia is composed of grouted stone walls.