City of San Antonio
Parks & Recreation Department

Maverick Park
A History
1000 Broadway

In 1881, prominent San Antonian Sam Maverick donated three acres to the City for a park at Broadway and Jones Avenue. Named for Maverick, the park was only three blocks from the City's first railroad station, built in 1877 on Austin Street. As railroad traffic increased, many new houses and businesses were built around the park, and Avenue C (today Broadway) became a major thoroughfare.

In 1957, to mark the 80th anniversary of train service to San Antonio, Southern Pacific Railroad donated one of its last steam locomotives -- Old 794 -- to the City for display in the park. Two months later, the San Antonio Light carried a photograph of the 250-ton engine sinking into the ground. Former Parks Director Bob Frazer recalls with a laugh that this was the newspaper's annual April Fool's joke. February 22, 1997 marked the 40th anniversary of the engine's dedication in Maverick Park.