From the Statesman archives: Additional Mueller streets promote Austin history

Last week in "From the Archives," we looked at the history of street names in Austin.

After surveying trends from the distant past, we sampled some of the street names in the 21st-century Mueller neighborhood.

These monikers were chosen by a diverse committee of experts on Austin history and culture. Many of their name selections were taken from people who had contributed mightily to the city, but they had never been honored in this particular way.

Last week, I shared brief backgrounds on a few street namesakes, including Barbara Jordan, Zachary Scott, Lorraine "Grandma" Camacho, Isamu Taniguchi and Emma Long.

Only one tidbit from the archives surprised me: Why choose Lemuel Scarbrough as a street namesake, when at least four generations of the Scarbrough family managed a big general store that evolved into the signature department store in town?

Last week, I promised to return to this subject of street names quickly, and more than once. A lot of local history can be learned in this "new urbanist" neighborhood that rose on land which once hosted Robert Mueller Municipal Airport.

• Antone Street: Named for club owner Clifford Antone (1949-2006), whose blues venue, founded in the 1970s on East Sixth Street, still thrives, now on East Fifth Street. He created Antone's Records to complement his nightclub and, among various charitable works, he started the “Neighbors in Need” benefit in response to Hurricane Katrina.
• Hernandez Street: For decades, Austinites have swayed and danced to the orchestra led by Ignacio “Nash” Hernández (1922-1994), a Central Texas native who had been a trumpeter in the U.S. Army. Started in 1949 with all Hispanic musicians, the band has played countless gigs, in recent years helmed by his son Ruben Hernández. The music has uplifted the community, as well as some political campaigns, along the way.
• James Wheat Street: After emancipation, Austin became home to more than a dozen "freedom colonies" of independent, land-owning African Americans. Among them, "Wheatville" was founded by James Wheat in 1867 in what is now the West Campus area. He lived at 2409 San Gabriel St. In this community of 300, charismatic Rev. Jacob Fontaine established the area's first Black newspaper, the Austin Gold Dollar.
• Kocurek Street: A shelf of books could not do justice to the good works of visionary civic leader Dr. Neal Kocurek (1936-2004), namesake for the city's convention center. Kocurek promoted urban planning, public health and educational programs. He led the efforts to turn what was St. David's Hospital into the hybrid for-profit-nonprofit that continues to pour tens of millions of dollars each year into charitable causes in the health sector.
• McBee Street: Named after Frank McBee (1920-2000), a tech captain and philanthropist, this honor rightly should be shared by his wife, American-Statesman columnist and preservationist Sue McBee (1923-2011). A UT engineering graduate, Frank helped found Tracor, the city's first homegrown tech home run, and nurtured dozens of companies created by his employees. A foundation named for the McBees recently endowed the renewed efforts of Preservation Austin.
• Mendez Street: I never knew the story about the namesake for Mendez Middle School. According to "Street Legends," Consuelo Herrera Mendez (1904-1985) was one of Austin's first Hispanic teachers of the modern era and a longtime advocate of Mexican American rights: "Before teaching at Zavala Elementary School, Mendez taught at the Comal School, a segregated four-room house school for first and second grade Hispanic children."

• Philomena Street: Now this is a past leader whom everyone should have met: Sister Philomena Feltz (1910-1999). A fearless figure from Missouri and director of food services at Seton Infirmary, she operated a soup kitchen from the hospital for anyone who was hungry. She held a 60-year record of service with the Daughters of Charity in Austin.
• Scales Street: Norman Scales (1918-1981) grew up in Austin and was the first African American pilot from Austin. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Military Single Engine Fighter Pilots of Tuskegee, Alabama. He flew more than 70 missions and was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross at Bergstrom Air Force Base.
• Simond Avenue: A columnist for the Statesman, Ada Simond (1903-1989) navigated a career in teaching, history and public health, and then became an author of children's books that chronicled the life of a fictional African American family living in East Austin in the first half of the 20th century.

Didn't learn about your Mueller street in either column? Wait. You shall.