Tooling through Mueller, have you ever wondered how the streets of this 21st-century neighborhood, such as Camacho, Taniguchi and Scarbrough, earned their names?

We offer partial historical answers in today’s column.

By way of background, a stroll through the American-Statesman archives reveals several strata of history about Austin street names.

• 1839: The original map of Austin, drawn by master surveyor L.J. Pilie, reveals three types of street names: 1) north-south streets named after Texas rivers, which is still the case; 2) east-west streets named after Texas trees (changed to numerals in 1886, but a change adopted slowly); 3) other names, including the grand-sounding Congress Avenue for the wide street that bisected the new capital of the Texas Republic, as well as names that represented different types of boundaries (East, West, Water).
• 1886: City leaders replaced the tree names with numbered streets on Sept. 21, 1886. Edwin Waller, charged with hacking the city out of the wilderness, had actually preferred numbers for east-west streets, as a July 11, 1839, letter to Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar proves. Some maps from the late 19th century and early 20th century show both numbers and tree names for the same streets.
• Late 1800s-early 1900s: As Austin slipped outside of the downtown grid and the garden plots to the east, more streets were named after early Texas leaders and Austin residents (Lamar Boulevard, Barton Springs Road); or nearby towns already named after early Texans (Burnet Road, Cameron Road); local landmarks (Asylum Road, later renamed Guadalupe Street); or nearby communities (Dessau Road, Old Fredericksburg Road, later renamed South Lamar Boulevard).
• Late 1900s: Three major trends: 1) New freeways named by federal, state or city transportation entities (at times confusing, such as the doubly dubbed MoPac, named for the parallel Missouri Pacific railroad, but also known as Texas Loop 1); 2) new suburban streets named by developers after faraway, fanciful or imaginary people and places, or conversely, actual local geography; and 3) throughways, some later expanded, named after local politicians (Ben White Boulevard) or highway officials (Ed Bluestein Boulevard).
• 2000: The new Mueller redevelopment provided a singular opportunity to name a lot of new streets under the scrutiny of a public-private project. The plateau east of Interstate 35 had already been associated with several key historical events — the scalping of settler Josiah Wilbarger in 1833, the purchase of land by twice-enslaved Newton Isaac Collins in 1872, and the opening of the city’s first civilian airport there in 1930. It was named after City Council Member Robert Mueller (pronounced Miller), who died in office in 1927.

Austinites revved up efforts to move Mueller Municipal Airport, located a few miles from downtown, in 1984. A leading candidate for a replacement was land near Manor, which helps explain some of the industrial, commercial, office and hotel space built on speculation during this period near Interstate 35 and U.S. 290. The city, however, chose the federal offer of Bergstrom Air Force Base in Del Valle. It became Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which opened in 1999.

At that point, what to do with the hundreds of acres that had been the main footprint of the Mueller Airport?

The city of Austin entered into a partnership with Catellus Development Corp. to create a neighborhood based on ideas associated with “new urbanism.” Those ideas included urban-like density, walkable streets, sensitive landscaping and a mix of resident incomes. Also clustered around the former airport were movie studios, a children’s hospital, a children’s museum and Rathgeber Village, home to several social service groups.

Meanwhile, a committee was convened to choose Mueller street names from the names of significant Austin figures, some of them not well known, especially to newcomers.

Here are just a few of those street names (I’ll return to the subject in future “From the Archives” columns):

• Zach Scott Street: The movie and stage actor Zachary Scott (1914-1965), son of a prominent Austin family that included Dr. Zachary Scott (1880-1964), is perhaps best remembered for film roles in “Mildred Pierce” and “The Southerner.” He is the namesake for Zach Theatre, formerly known as Zachary Scott Theatre, the city’s largest resident theater company.
• Barbara Jordan Boulevard: The former U.S. congresswoman’s early life and career are associated with Houston, but the fearless defender of the Constitution spent her later years in Austin as a professor at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. Two large statues of Jordan (1936-1996) can be found in the city, one on the University of Texas campus, the other at Austin-Bergstrom.
• Camacho Street: Lorraine Fuentes “Grandma” Castro Camacho (1917-1999) worked in food service for the Austin school district, but more than that, she was a volunteer and community organizer who took care of the youth in the Holly Street neighborhood for decades. Mother of beloved community historian Danny Camacho, she lent her name to the Lorraine “Grandma” Camacho Activity Center.
• Taniguchi Street: A native of Japan, Isamu Taniguchi (1897-1992) immigrated to the U.S. as a teen. During World War II, he was forced into an internment camp at Crystal City, about 115 miles southwest of San Antonio, where he worked in the carpentry shop and maintained gardens. He retired to Austin in 1967, where his son and grandson became prominent architects and educators. In gratitude to the city, he almost single-handedly created the Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden at the Zilker Botanical Garden.
• Scarbrough Street: Named after Lemuel Scarbrough (1889-1965), part of at least four generations of his family who turned a farmer-oriented general store into the city’s most glamorous and comprehensive department store. Like his relatives, Lemuel became a philanthropist and civic leader. The Scarbrough Building, including its art deco additions, still commands the southwest corner of Congress Avenue and Sixth Street.
• Emma Long Street: While Austin city government was led by a club of white businessmen for more than a century, Emma Long (1912-2011), an American-Statesman reporter, broke that mold in 1948 by becoming the first woman elected to the City Council. Long was unusually progressive for her time and promoted many of the changes that redefined Austin during the 1950s and ’60s. She reactivated the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and is the namesake for Emma Long Metropolitan Park in Northwest Austin.

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The Texas Democratic Party’s governing board on Saturday elected Kendall Scudder to lead the party forward as its new chair after a devastating performance in November and years of electoral defeats.

“The challenge that we’re facing right now is terrifying for this country and for this state, and a lot of people are counting on us to come together and do the right thing and make sure that we are building a Texas Democratic Party that is worthy of the grassroots in this state,” Scudder said upon taking the gavel. “Let’s build a party that the working men and women of this state can be proud of.”

Scudder took 65 out of 121 votes, an outright majority in the seven-way race.

Scudder will take over as chair of the state party at a moment when Democrats are grasping for a way forward after blowout losses up and down the ballot last year, including President Donald Trump’s victory and a surge to the right by traditionally Democratic groups, such as Hispanic voters in South Texas.

After proclaiming Texas a competitive state where Democratic candidates had a fighting chance of winning statewide for the first time in three decades, party leaders instead watched as Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz trounced their Democratic challengers by roughly 14 and 9 percentage points, respectively. Democrats also ceded ground in the state Legislature and lost nearly every contested state appellate court race, in addition to 10 judicial races in Harris County — eating away at years of Democratic dominance in Texas’ largest county.

That left many Democrats concerned that, after appearing to come within striking distance of winning statewide in 2018, the party was back at a sobering low.

Longtime Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa announced his resignation shortly after the election, acknowledging the party’s poor performance and a need for a new direction.

That push for a fresh vision defined the race for party chair. Scudder will be the incumbent come 2026, when a broader group of delegates will elect the next full-term chair at the party convention in Corpus Christi. The 121-member State Democratic Executive Committee chose Hinojosa’s successor at the Saturday meeting, its first quarterly meeting of the year, because he resigned in the middle of his four-year term.

During his campaign, Scudder, an East Texas native, emphasized the importance of listening to the “grassroots.” Even before he launched his candidacy, he had accused party leadership under Hinojosa of ignoring those voters and activists. He wants to “recalibrate” the party toward a focus on working people.

“The reality is simply that Democrats on the ground don’t have a lot of confidence in party leadership anymore,” Scudder told The Texas Tribune in an interview on Thursday.

He wants the party to pay attention to areas he says it has previously written off, like rural communities, and put a priority on Spanish-language communications.

Scudder has worked in affordable housing and real estate. He came onto the state party stage through the SDEC, although he began his political activism with the Texas Young Democrats and the Texas College Democrats.

Scudder’s leading opponents, former Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter and former Annie’s List Executive Director Patsy Woods Martin, had offered similar but competing visions to re-establish Democratic credibility on kitchen table issues and reconnect with voters in their communities. During the campaign, Schechter and Woods Martin emphasized their experience getting Democratic candidates elected.

The SDEC hosted a candidate forum in Austin on Friday evening before toasting Hinojosa, the outgoing chair.

There, and at the panel’s meeting on Saturday, party insiders discussed how to rebuild credibility with working class voters, engage young people, fundraise and build a party infrastructure that better facilitates elected officials’ involvement in races around the state.

“The problem is that every Democrat thinks that if they had 10 more minutes, they could explain it to you,” Scudder said on party messaging during the forum. “We’ve got to get to a point where we’re speaking to people at their gut, because people vote with their guts and not their brains.”

While most party chair contests are shaped by region and race and decided at the party’s convention during midterm election years, this race was a more insular affair whose outcome was determined by a small group of the party’s activists, many of whom are progressives dissatisfied with the party’s strategies and operations.

Although the SDEC was prepared to go multiple rounds with their ranked choice ballot, Scudder’s 65 allowed him to win in the first round. Woods Martin took 27 votes, and Schechter took 26. Denton County Democratic Party Chair Delia Parker-Mims took two votes, and Meri Gomez rounded out the count with one vote. Eight candidates appeared on the ballot, but one dropped out before the election.

As the votes were tabulated, members passed out to-go shots of blue liquor — and non-alcoholic options — in an effort to liven spirits after a difficult 2024 election and an unprecedented chair race.

The candidates were largely aligned ideologically. And they especially all agreed on the need for change in the party’s direction.

“We are at an inflection point right now,” Schechter said, “and if we don’t learn lessons from the last election, and continue doing things status quo, we’re never going to win in Texas.”

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Things weren’t quite clicking for Zayden Sharp in the boys long jump Friday at the Texas Relays.

Sitting in third place with only two attempts left, Sharp walked behind a bench and huddled with his father, Mike, who was holding an iPad. The duo studied Zayden’s technique.

“It was my knees,” Sharp said later. “When I was jumping, I was dragging my knees. My legs were lagging in the air, so my dad said, ‘Get those knees up.’”

The quick study did the trick. On his fifth attempt, the Anderson senior landed a mark of 23 feet, 5.2 inches, earning him his first Texas Relays title as the third day of action drew to a close at Myers Stadium. 

“I know a lot of people say practice doesn’t make perfect,” Sharp said, “but you get a lot of practice in, and it will make you pretty darn close to being perfect. I came into this meet thinking it was a practice meet. Nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Just go out there and jump.” 

MORE: Texas’ Eva Jess impresses in rainy Thursday at Texas Relays

According to MileSplit, Sharp also entered the day with the nation’s No. 1 all conditions high school mark in the long jump. His 25-foot, 4-inch leap on March 1 in Round Rock is among five best other efforts in the country over 25 feet, a result which puts him in elite company.

But wins mean more, and on Friday the performance was significant for another reason: It cemented his status as one of the nation’s top leapers. Sharp has his eyes on reaching 25 feet again. 

MORE: Austin-area high schoolers to watch at this year’s Texas Relays

“It’s everything,” said Sharp, who’s committed but not yet signed to Air Force to play football and track and field. “My first indoor meet, I jumped 23-10, and that was kind of when it switched for me and everybody around me, that I am capable.” 

With that said, Sharp is still looking for his first state title. But with the district meet arriving on the calendar, the UIL postseason will be in full swing.

“I just want to see what I can put out there,” he said.

MORE: Elite 11 football players on the horizon

Around the Texas Relays: high schools 

A good day for Langdon: Friday was a busy day for Bowie’s Owen Langdon, who spent the afternoon qualifying for Saturday’s final of the boys 110-meter hurdles and the evening placing among the top eight finishers in the 300-meter hurdles. It wasn’t a perfect day by any stretch, but Langdon is quickly realizing what he’s capable of.

The senior finished fourth at the Texas State Outdoor Championships in the 300-meter hurdles in 2024. On Friday, his time of 37.77 netted him a sixth-place finish in the second heat. It was just five-tenths shy of his personal best.

“I’ve been doing this since the eighth grade,” Langdon said. “I just ended up being good at it, so I just kind of stuck with it and that’s it.” 

Langdon’s best race came earlier in the day. He clocked a wind-legal time of 13.89 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, earning him the second-fastest seed going into Saturday’s final. His three-step pattern was nearly flawless. Things won’t get any easier there, though, as Langdon will also feature in Bowie’s 400 relay.

He said it will take a “perfect technique, perfect pattern” to win the 110 hurdles final, but that “competition will help” and he’s targeting a time in the 13.6-second range.

Locals attack the 1,600 distance: Anderson’s Colby Huntress finished fourth in the boys 1,600 in 4:14.67, showcasing a strong kick in the final 100 meters, while LASA’s Eva Cragnolino mirrored him, clocking a PR of 4:53.21 to finish sixth in the girls event.

“Just building up the confidence to go with those top guys and put it all out there,” Huntress said. “Because as hard of an effort that was, I know I can push harder.” 

Anderson’s Faith Murphy, the reigning Class 6A state runner-up at 800 meters, was ninth with a time of 4:55.46. That personal best time also represented her first foray at the distance since her freshman season.

“My college coaches said, ‘Hey, you need to get your mile time down,’” said Murphy, who signed with Arkansas. “And I said, ‘OK, great.’ I just took it as a challenge.”

Cragnolino’s reward was her patience. She pulled away from Murphy in the final straightaway. The previous night, she had watched the college distance races from the stands as a way to prepare for her own moment.  

“The women’s race was so inspiring,” she said.

Other notable performances: Bowie’s Jazzlyn Hepburn finished sixth in the high jump with a mark of 5-5. … Del Valle’s Jeremiah Robinson was fourth in the discus with a mark of 8 feet, 4 inches.