The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964 Page: 344
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
During this time we did a lot of boating and swimming in the
Colorado River-We made many happy excursions for hunting and
fishing. ... On one of our trips Ed Struber, while we were splitting
a keg of beer, hit upon the happy expedient of naming our boat
after some prominent citizens and collecting $50 for the honor. It
worked fine for a time. Our noble craft bore in succession the names
Major Wheatley, Major Burke, the Charles Hicks, then finally the
A. P. Wooldridge.62
Wooldridge must have made quite an impression to have been
so honored for this same man also wrote of the city that:
Austin was a gay place in the '80's. I guess we added some to
the gay little things that happened there or thereabouts. We certainly
went places and saw things. The old burg was filled with cowmen,
flush of money, rearing to spend it on gambling, booze .. . We
trailed and piked along with this bunch of high rollers . . oz
In 1887, a sister joined Mabel and the Wooldridge boys. A
summer child, Ellen Waggener Wooldridge, was born June 25,
and greatly resembled her fair mother.
Civic affairs were not too small to concern Wooldridge and in
1888, in a letter to the public and to the Business League, he
urged the damming of the Colorado River, feeling that this could
benefit the entire town by providing power and a constant water
supply. Through Wooldridge's efforts, the river was dammed and
at the dedication ceremonies, many tributes were paid him. Not
only did Austin get its first dam because of Wooldridge's fore-
sight and efforts, but through him, the city traded the dummy
railroad which carried granite from the tracks of the International-
Great Northern Railroad to the site of the dam to the Fort Wayne
Electric Construction Company in 1895; thus, Austin acquired
the unusual tower lights which still illuminate many parts of the
capital as well as recreational facilities of the city. Originally
carbon-arc lamps, the lights are presently mercury vapor lamps,
and send out a brilliant light in a circle of 3,ooo feet in diameter.
From their heighth of 165 feet, the towers symbolize protection
and security to the citizens of Austin.64
In i889, after a long and successful tenure in office as president
62Trueman O'Quinn, "O. Henry in Austin," Southwestern Historical Quarterly,
XLIII, 147.
eslbid.
64Undated clipping (original in possession of Mabel Wooldridge Benson, Austin).344
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 67, July 1963 - April, 1964, periodical, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101197/m1/402/?q=%221777%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.