Sara Pierce
In her book Road, River, and Ol’ Boy Politics, Linda Scarbrough explores the controversies and political maneuvering that accompanied two federal engineering experiments that transformed Williamson County, Texas, from an agricultural empire with a diverse and democratic population into one of the fastest-growing conservative counties in the nation. Scarbrough tells the story of Austin’s northern neighbor by dividing its history into two parts, The River and The Road. In the first section, she tracks the controversies and political maneuvering that accompanied a fifty-year dispute resulting in the construction of two dams along the San Gabriel River. The region was drastically reconfirmed gured by a new agenda of flood control set in 1921, in the wake of mass destruction caused by one of the greatest of all continental U.S. rainstorms. Although federally funded dams and highway projects were typically geared toward the support of agrarian economies, the recipients of these projects often shifted toward massive suburban development; Williamson County was no exception. Although water wasn’t everything, it was pivotal in the early 1970s, when Round Rock began a trend of recruiting blue chip companies. The population grew 500 percent during that decade in response to the city’s pursuit of postindustrial technology.
Scarbrough suggests that only a handful of people suspected the real impact that U.S. Interstate Highway 35 would have when combined with a new source of surface water. The second part of the book follows the implementation of Interstate 35 through Round Rock from its first proposed route in 1917. The fifteen-mile difference between where the highway was built and the original proposed route that ran east near Taylor had the consequence of overturning the economic and political power structure in the county. Scarbrough reveals the underlying influence of local forces that impacted federal policy and ultimately redefined national agendas to more suitably fi t their needs. She believes that academics often misinterpret infrastructure projects happening to a powerless public in the sole name of state interest. She uses the term “gilded democratic action” to describe the pressure politics led by unusually forceful, politically talented individuals who challenged established powers. The characters that shaped Williamson County by altering road and river projects were each motivated by their own personal and public vision. Scarbrough credits these rural leaders with “anticipat[ing] the future far more accurately, and with more panache, than did the professional planners.”
Scarbrough regrets that despite efforts that will provide minimal preservation, much of Williamson County has lost its sense of place. The interstate highway culture that defines America’s growth has led to a homogenization of form that subsumes local and regional contexts. Scarbrough’s account serves as a testament to the need for consideration of how large-scale public work projects will affect both the physical and cultural environment on a local level. By thoroughly detailing the social, environmental, economic, and political circumstances surrounding the construction of these federally funded infrastructural works, Scarbrough unravels the complexities and unintended consequences of a pattern of fast-track development being replicated across America’s Dry Sun Belt.
SARA PIERCE is pursuing her master’s degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Texas. She recently completed a MA in anthropology and holds a BA in geography with an emphasis on landscape ecology. Her educational background and professional experience working in planning and design at the City of Austin Parks Department inspired her to research the relationship between water, urban infrastructure, and Austin’s rapid growth.
