How Austin's 'lakes' got their names

With its dazzling views, miles of lush trails and recreational activities that allow folks to escape the summer heat, Lady Bird Lake is a true gem nestled in the heart of Austin’s downtown. 

AUSTIN (KXAN) – With its dazzling views, miles of lush trails and recreational activities that allow folks to escape the summer heat, Lady Bird Lake is a true oasis nestled beneath the gleaming towers of Austin’s downtown. 

If you’re like me, when you first moved to Austin, you may have wondered to yourself, “But is it called 'Lady Bird Lake' or 'Town Lake?' And is it even a lake?” If you’re still confused, here is some historical context on how the “lakes” in Austin were formed and named.

Lake Austin 

Before we had any lakes in Austin, there was only the Colorado River. That changed in 1893 when a dam was built and formed Lake Austin, which at the time was referred to as Lake McDonald.

“It was named after [John McDonald], the mayor who really was seen as being an impetus for getting the dam going,” said Sarah Marshall, who works with the Historic Preservation and Tourism Program for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. 

But seven years after the dam went up, it was destroyed by a flood in 1900. A second dam was built a decade later but was also destroyed by flooding. By the time the Tom Miller Dam was built upon the two failed dams 40 years after the first, Marshall said people were referring to the body of water as Lake Austin. 

Marshall said there was also a baseball field called Lake Austin Park, “so once the Tom Miller Dam was built, the name sort of stuck because that's what it was always colloquially known as,” she said.

Lady Bird Lake, but first, Town Lake 

Between the Tom Miller Dam and the Longhorn Dam – built in 1960 – formed another body of water, now called Lady Bird Lake. 

But before it had that name, it was referred to as Town Lake for nearly 50 years. 

Marshall said a journalist in the 1960s first “called it Town Lake as a placeholder, and then it stuck.”

But not everyone liked Town Lake. Marshall said some felt the word “town” diminished Austin’s status as a big city. Other names were considered, including “Lake Tonkawa,” after the Tonkawa tribe that would have utilized the waters long before Austin was a city. 

Then, in 1962, the Texas Department of Transportation “put a sign down on [Interstate] 35, calling it Town Lake, and everybody was like, ‘Well, it’s official now because it’s on a sign,’” Marshall said. 

Shortly after the sign went up, the Austin City Council voted to officially call it Town Lake. That name stuck until the city council passed a resolution in 2007 changing the name to Lady Bird Lake, less than a month after Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson died. 

Before dams formed the lake, frequent flooding made it nearly impossible for trees to grow on the banks of the Colorado River. Because of this, the area around the lake was nearly barren throughout the 1960s, according to the Trail Conservancy. 

Ann Butler, the wife of 1970s Austin Mayor Roy Butler, and Johnson were reportedly staying at the same hotel in London. Inspired by a verdant path along the River Thames, the two women and Mayor Butler decided to throw a large fundraiser to beautify the path around Town Lake, per the Trail Conservancy.

“[Johnson] was one of the first people to propose that there should be a beautification around the lake, and [that] it should be made into more of a park,” Marshall said. 

Marshall said there were efforts to name the lake after Johnson after the large 1973 fundraiser while she was still alive, but Johnson objected. “She said the lake belongs to the citizens of Austin, particularly the citizens who've made donations [and] businesses who've worked to get this done,” Marshall said. 

Ultimately, after Johnson died, to honor her efforts, the lake was named after her. 

“People from the Johnson family, including Lucy Baines Johnson, said that she thinks her mom would be OK with naming it after her posthumously,” Marshall said.