Day Trips
The Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden is just one of many reasons to visit Lampasas
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., Aug. 18, 2006
The Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden in Lampasas has plenty of room to grow. The four large works of art look small in the open park land, but that doesn't make the limestone and metal pieces any less impressive.
The artwork is both whimsical and inspiring. The civic project that brought the work to this small agricultural community, Art in the Park, was begun by Nancy Gray of the Fourth Street Gallery in Lampasas. The garden began taking shape last summer when the first blocks of limestone were delivered from a quarry in Kempner, about 6 miles east of Lampasas.
Dallas resident David Hickman shaped two 12-foot-tall pieces of white limestone into Gateway in less than three months. The bookend-like pillars are joined at the top by a metal weather vane with stars at one end and the moon at the end that floats in the breeze.
Carolann Haggard's Lampasas Furniture looks like it could be a functional piece of art. The sofa and chair are carved smooth on-site out of rough blocks of white limestone. Colorful tiles across one arm of the sofa almost look like a real afghan.
Local girl T.J. Mabrey installed her piece entitled Four Flora near the basketball courts in the park. The four columns represent categories of Central Texas plants: trees (live oak acorn), vines (wood rose), cacti (Texas horse crippler), and wildflower (Mexican hat). Mabrey is noted for sculpting seed pods and leaves out of marble and limestone.
The newest addition to the garden, also done by Hickman, is called Meadow Dancers. It consists of three metal butterflies that flutter in the air on long, curved poles above the visitor's head. The bright-yellow figures seem to defy the breeze as they dance in any direction they please.
The sculpture garden makes this at least the third time that Hanna Springs has been the center of attention to visitors to the area about an hour and a half north of Austin. It is said that the Tonkawa Indians worshipped the curative waters of the springs that still bubble up from the ground into a concrete pool at the base of the hill below the works of art. The mineral water that percolates through the porous limestone substrate is moderately salty and alkaline with a slight rotten-egg odor. There is a good reason that the stream through town is named Sulphur Creek.
Lampasas is the site of at least seven natural springs, and by 1882, it was a celebrated resort town. The luxurious Park Hotel was built on the southwestern edge of town near Hancock Springs. It was touted as a health and vacation destination as far away as Dallas and Houston until it burned down in 1895.
An advertisement for Hanna Springs Bath and Opera House in 1910 claimed top-quality sulfur water, electric baths, Turkish baths, and "two of the finest swimming pools in the world," both filled with fresh sulfur water. The Hanna Springs Resort barely lasted another decade.
Both springs have given their names to city swimming pools. Hancock Springs fills a small swimming pool in the park near the intersection of U.S. 190 and U.S. 281. The cool water has a slight hint of saline and sulfur. The walking path along the creek through town is a nice respite from a long drive.
The Hanna Springs swimming pool at the end of East North Street is filled with city water. The pool that shares a parking lot with the sculpture garden has a water slide, fountain, and buckets on a pole that pour water on the heads of delighted children. Both pools are open to the public Tuesday through Sunday.
While stationed at nearby Fort Hood, Elvis Presley used to come to Lampasas to get a strawberry malt at Storm's Drive-In. The hamburger joint on U.S. 183 still makes a mean shake and cheeseburger that are delivered to your vehicle by car hops.
If you're looking for a good espresso drink or gourmet dessert, try Perk's Coffee Bar, 406 E. Third St., a block off the historic county courthouse square. The meeting-and-greeting spot also occasionally hosts live music.
791st in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
