WHAT DO YOU KNOW...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about Steiner Ranch? Steiner Ranch is a subdivision with million dollar homes, offices and apartments galore. There are elementary schools, shops, and a spa, plus the 18 hole U.T. Golf Club, and Longhorn Village Retirement community. It stretches from a long waterfront on Lake Austin to hills overlooking Lake Travis. If dining at Bobby Steiner’s Steak House one can watch the sun set over sail boats in the lake below. By 1895, Texas cattle drives were over. While David B. Barrow senior was buying land to expand Austin by creating Northwest Hills subdivision, (mid 1950) Buck Steiner, only 20 miles away, was hiring cowboys to roundup his steers and truck them to markets. I called son Tommy Steiner several years ago when writing about Steiner Ranch in my book. (*) He told me a story about a boy that his father raised on the ranch. Ben took on the nick name “Humpy” when he was old enough to ride bulls at rodeos. Buck assigned Humpy to drive a truck full of Steiner cattle to market. The cowboy took the saddle horse foremen’s daughter with him and didn’t return when he was expected. Humpy finally returned, “The highway patrol turned the radar on me, and it burned up every wire in the truck.” I agreed with Tommy, it was a very creative excuse! Living well into his 90s when most people didn’t, Buck Steiner left ranching to his sons. He could be found in his boot and saddle store on Lavaca Street a few blocks south of the University of Texas. Son Tommy Steiner was the rancher and well known in the Lake Travis area. Grandson Bobby created the steak house atop a hill at Steiner Ranch and now is the go-to for stories about the family ranch. A friend told me that it was her step father who sold Buck his ranch. Fred Sharp knew that when the World War II ended, growing cities would need a way to collect more revenue. His parking meters were just the ticket (pardon a pun). He was selling them to southern cities experiencing increased traffic on their shopping streets. Entrepreneur Sharp from New York, married a beautiful southern lady, divorced from Austin’s prominent Caswell family. Her choice was living in the city. The ranch was sold. A lovely home next to the Gov. Pease mansion was build that accommodated Fred’s bride and his mother, plus two young Caswell children and his son. Also there were quarters for the couple who had lived with him at his ranch. (*) Hudson Bend and the Birth of Lake Travis Carole Sikes 10/2021