Local neighborhood hits four-decade mark
By Kelli Weldon
In 2014 the Onion Creek neighborhood celebrates its 40-year anniversary. To understand the neighborhood is to think back to before master-planned communities with homeowners associations became the norm, resident Dean Goodnight said.
"Onion Creek was the first [to my knowledge], certainly for South Austin and south Travis County, to ... come into existence with guidelines and an HOA to enforce guidelines," he said.
Before the neighborhood
For many years the area around the Onion Creek waterway was undeveloped, said Marilyn McLeod, Manchaca Onion Creek Historical Association president.
"I found the first notations [of Onion Creek] around 1835, so it is an old name," she said, noting Spanish explorers in 1691 camped near the creek.
The area once was a Native American camping ground, according to a 2004 Onion Creek HOA newsletter. At some point a Spanish land grant was given to Jose Navarro, the great-great-grandfather of professional golfer Jimmy Demaret.
In the '60s, Rex Kitchens owned the land, according to resident Jim Henry.
Demaret met in 1963 with Kitchens and developer Jimmie Connolly to talk about selling 750 acres of land, the future site of the Onion Creek Club and residential community, said Kathy Pillmore, Onion Creek Homeowners Association president. In 1969, Rex's widow, Effie, turned the land over to Connolly and Demaret. Timber magnate Arthur Temple and his subsidiary company, Lumbermen's Investment Corp., funded the purchase.
The neighborhood is bounded on the north and south by Onion Creek, west by I-35 and east by Bradshaw Road, she said.
Demaret designed the development's golf course. Connolly was the "idea man," said longtime resident Sheila Mustin, co-owner of Mustin & Porter Realtors.
"I moved out here in 1974, and there were only three houses," Mustin said.
The Parade of Homes event displaying model homes was held in 1976, Mustin & Porter co-owner Connie Porter said.
Retirees and Air Force veterans moved to Onion Creek because it was near the former Bergstrom Air Force Base, Pillmore said.
With construction still in progress, the Onion Creek Club opened in 1974 with a celebration Willie Nelson and Bob Hope attended, resident Bob Baeumel said.
One of the most significant events in the club's history is the first Legends of Golf tournament held in April 1978, he said. The tournament, which attracted professional golfers including Arnold Palmer, continued for 11 years and put Onion Creek Club and Austin on the map in terms of golf, he said.
More sections were later added to the neighborhood. Construction on Legends Place began in 1995, Pillmore said.
Austin annexed Onion Creek in 2004, but the neighborhood has maintained its own waste disposal services, Goodnight said.
Another 285 homes will be added in the newest section, Legends Way, Pillmore said.
"For a long time it was the middle of nowhere, and now Austin has grown up to meet us," she said. "Ask anybody who's been here for a long time, and they'll tell you that they feel a sense of community and that's why they've stayed."
