City of Austin - Austin Treasures: Hyde Park

As Hyde Park grew, several businesses moved to the neighborhood. Ramsey's Austin Nursery, located just north of 45th Street and described as the largest nursery west of the Mississippi, employed many Hyde Park residents. Small grocery stores conveniently scattered throughout the area sold canned goods and staples such as coffee, sugar, and cornmeal. The main business district was located on Guadalupe and had a barber shop, caf�s, drug store and other shops which catered both to residents of the neighborhood and to visitors to the State Lunatic Asylum across the street.

The Cash-Carry store and Duval Filling Station at 43rd and Duval were built in the 1920s. The name Cash-Carry indicated that the old system of buying groceries on credit and having them delivered would not be followed.

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		J. Murray Ramsey works at his desk at Ramsey's Austin Nursery about 1930. The nursery, which occupied over 400 acres north and west of 45th Street, was the largest west of the Mississippi and employed many Hyde Park residents.
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Photograph of interior of cafe showing customer seated at counter

The Ellis family operated the Ellis Caf� on Guadalupe for years, staying open from six in the morning until ten at night. The caf� even remained open on holidays, with the family gathering there to celebrate.

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