Who was Menchaca? Del Valle? Guerrero? The stories behind Austin's Hispanic place names

Texas' long history of Spanish bilingualism may at times hide behind localized pronunciations, but Hispanic names and Spanish-language words have marked place and community in Austin since its beginning.

Austin's first urban plan, laid out under the direction of Edwin Waller in 1839, used Texas river names for many of the north-south streets of the city's grid, interweaving place names from the Spanish colonial era into the city's fabric. In more recent years, the names of streets, parks and community centers in areas like East Austin reference a previous generations of Mexican American political leaders who advocated for their long-segregated communities.

Here's some of the history behind those names.

César Chávez Street

César Chávez was the California-born union organizer who became a central figure in the fight for improved farm labor conditions in the 1960s. The city named the street after Chávez in 1993, the year of his death. To celebrate, a march that included members of Chávez’s family was held. The street was previously First Street and, before that, Water Street.

Del Valle

Literally meaning “from/belonging to the valley” in Spanish. According to the Texas State Historical Society, the community’s name derives from one of its past owners, Santiago Del Valle (“Del BA-yeh,” in Spanish). Del Valle was a Mexican land-grant owner and politician.

The 'river' streets

Many of the city’s oldest north-south streets — in downtown and the immediately adjacent areas — are named after Texas rivers, as was decided by early city planner Edwin Waller in 1839. The prolificity of Hispanic street names in these areas thus reflects the riverine designations of Spanish settlers and explorers. The Rio Grande, Nueces, San Antonio, Guadalupe, Lavaca, Colorado, Brazos, San Jacinto, San Marcos, Medina, Comal, Leona, Pedernales and San Saba rivers all have Austin streets named after them. The order of these roads somewhat mimics the order of the rivers, from west to east.

The rivers are named after religious figures (San Jacinto, San Marcos and Guadalupe), colonists (Medina) and nearby environments (Pedernales is Spanish for “flint,” Nueces for “nuts,” Lavaca appears to be an adulteration of the Spanish translation of the original French name: Rivière de Les Veches, or "River of Cows"). Comal, the Nahuatl-derived Mexican Spanish word for a flat, griddle-like pans used to cook tortillas, may also have a reference to geography around the namesake river.

Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach

Edward Rendon Sr. was a community activist and the leader of the East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association. As previously reported by the American-Statesman, Rendon’s activism started with park clean-up and beautification efforts in the 1970s on the park land at Festival Beach, the north-eastern shore of what is now Lady Bird Lake. He was also involved in the Chicano neighborhood protests against the Aqua Fest boat races. In 2007, the city named a portion of this parkland after him.

Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center

Emma S. Barrientos was an influential advocate of Latino arts in Austin. She helped found the Mexican American Cultural Center and Ballet Folklórico de Texas, a Mexican folk dance school and company. She also served on the founding board of the Mexic-Arte Museum. She was married to state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos.

Jesse E. Segovia Street

Jesse Segovia was an Austin artist and activist known for making political signs for the area’s Latino political candidates. He also served as the first president the East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association, according to a city biography. He was honored alongside Edward Rendon Sr. in 2007 by having Bergman Street, where he lived for the last four decades of his life, named after him.

Juan Treviño Jr. Metropolitan Park

The swath of about 330 acres of field ands woods between FM 969 and the Colorado River is not yet open to public, but the city adopted a vision path for the space in 2020. Its namesake, Juan Treviño Jr. became the first Mexican American to serve on the Austin City Council when he won election in 1975. While on the job, Treviño helped start the precursor of today’s Small and Minority Business Resources Department and advocated for new health clinics throughout the city. He served for 14 years.

Oswaldo 'A.B.' Cantu/Pan American Recreation Center

A longtime East Austin boxing coach beginning in the 1950s, Oswaldo Cantu was also known as the “Atomic Bomb.” In and out of the Pan-American Recreation Center, he helped develop generations of young fighters, including one who went on to become a national amateur champ. His name was added to the recreation center in 1996.

Menchaca Road

Known as Manchaca until 2019, and still referred to in the Anglicized “MAN-shack” by the old guard and those trying hard to fit in, the street is believed to be named after José Antonio Menchaca, a Tejano who fought for the Republic of Texas’ separation from Mexico. (In Spanish, the name is pronounced “Mehn-CHA-ca.”) The road juts off South Lamar to the community of Manchaca (old spelling, still), which is just above the site of Onion Creek’s Manchaca Springs. According to the Texas Historical Society, Menchaca fought under Juan Seguín at the climactic Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution and later continued to serve in the Texas military. Like Seguín and other Tejano rebels, Menchaca eventually complained about the poor treatment of Tejano fighters as compared to their Anglo-American peers. He was an alderman and mayor in San Antonio. He died in 1879.

Manchaca vs. Menchaca: A step closer to renaming South Austin road

Nash Hernandez Road & Building

The road that winds through Edward Rendon Sr. Park was named after the founder of the Nash Hernandez Orchestra in 2006. Ignacio “Nash” Hernandez was the trumpeter and longtime leader of the group, which was one of the most successful and definitely the longest lasting of the town’s Mexican American Big Bands. After its start in 1949, the orchestra was known for its symphonic jazz, mamba and conjunto polkas. It continues to play as of January, 30 years after his death, under the direction of his son.

Parque Zaragoza

Established by the city after years of activism by the neighborhood’s Mexican American community, the community square has long served as space for sports, recreation and Mexican national holiday celebrations. It was named for Mexican Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, who became a national hero after he led the Mexican resistance to the French troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Zaragoza was born near what is today the South Texas town of Goliad.

Parque Zaragoza: The 'heartbeat' of the Mexican American community

Plaza Saltillo

Opened in 1997 as the centerpiece of a city-sponsored special destination zone of Mexican restaurants, Plaza Saltillo is named after the Austin sister city that donated the original benches, fountain and the bust of Mexican revolutionary figure Vito Alessio Robles. The Saltillo-born Robles lived in Austin for a time while on a state-appointed job, per the bust’s placard. Saltillo is the capital of the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.

Raul 'Roy' Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park

Guerrero was a longtime Austin Parks and Recreation employee known for a life of advocating for recreational opportunities for East Austin residents. During his career, “Mr. Recreation,” as he was known, helped integrate Austin Little League, worked as the director of the Pan American Recreation Center, and served as the superintendent of recreation and the parks department’s deputy director. He died in 2001 at the age of 82, two months after the park's name change.

Robert T. Martinez Jr. Street

The street is named after police officer Robert T. Martinez Jr., who was killed in the line of duty in 1989 at the age of 26. It was formerly called Canadian Street.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Menchaca, Del Valle: Stories behind Austin's Hispanic place names