In the 19th century, the city's Water Works Company was privately owned by George W. Brackenridge. Company lands included today's University of Incarnate Word, Brackenridge Park, Mahncke Park and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Water was drawn from the San Antonio River and pumped up the hill east of Broadway (then called River Avenue) to a storage reservoir on the Botanical Center site.

In 1891, after a drought almost dried up the River, Brackenridge drilled the city's first deep artesian well. Soon, the old pumping system was outdated and in 1906, after donating many acres of Water Works' land to the city for parks, Brackenridge sold the company.

Because he wanted "a continuous drive from the city through Brackenridge Park to the Reservoir," Brackenridge gave the city 25 acres around the reservoir and the strip of land connecting it to Brackenridge Park. He asked that the land be named for his close friend, City Park Commissioner Ludwig Mahncke. Today, a statue of Mahncke by famous sculptor Pompeo Coppini stands in the park and the old reservoir is the centerpiece of the Botanical Gardens, used as an amphitheater for educational programs.