History of Cherrywood

The neighborhood now known as Cherrywood takes its name from the major north-south artery that bisects the neighborhood, Cherrywood Road. But Cherrywood Road was once called Chestnut Street, and Cherrywood itself was once cotton fields, pastures and woods. The area bounded by Interstate 35, Manor Road, Airport Boulevard, and Wilshire Boulevard certainly has seen its share of changes over the last 170 years!

A land grant from Mexico and Texas in the 1830s paved the way for settlers from the east, who encountered native tribes. These settlers transformed hunting grounds into farms and ranches that remained for a century. Rapid post-war development in the 1940s and 1950s transformed the area once again, this time sprouting houses and businesses where cattle once grazed, and parks in former peach orchards.

While most of the livestock is now gone, Cherrywood today hosts a mix of bungalows, ranch style houses, and two-story stucco duplexes. The names of early owners, like Doris and J.H. French, Bascom and Rogan Giles, Walter Schieffer, Nye Patterson and others, are reflected in the names of streets and parks.

(Source: cherrywoodinfo.com, written by Rebecca Kohout. For more history visit this great site.)

1. Photo credit (Top): Douglass, Neal. Aerial View of the Concordia Neighborhood , Photograph, January 15, 1950; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth63088/ : accessed April 25, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas.

2. Photo credit (Bottom): Douglass, Neal. Aerial view of northeast Austin, Photograph, January 27, 1949; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth74361/ : accessed April 25, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas.