Celebrating the park’s 80th anniversary, Seguin is pleased to announce Max Starcke Park as a 2018 Lone Star Legacy Park. Concerning Seguin and the state of Texas, Max Starcke Park is unquestionably a park of special significance that deserves to be recognized by TRAPS. Max Starcke Park has been used as a template for other municipal parks since it opened.
The park is named in honor of Maximillian Hugo Starcke, a former alderman and mayor of Seguin for ten years who later served as the Lower Colorado River Authority’s managing director and consultant (LCRA). In his honor, the LCRA dam in Marble Falls was dubbed Max Starcke Dam in 1962.
An enjoyable activity is to have a family picnic in the park. Max Starcke Park is one of the nicest locations to bring your children to Seguin, and the Guadalupe River runs alongside Max Starcke Park.
The 227-acre Max Starcke Park has a golf course, a river, tennis courts, pathways, and a playground for children. The lovely natural park is ideal for family enjoyment because it provides a wide range of recreational opportunities for children, parents, and even grandparents. If you want to bring your pup, you can do it; Max Starcke Park also has a wide range of dog parks where your pup can enjoy playing freely.
In addition, the park has an 18-hole golf course that is appropriate for all levels of golfers, from beginners to professionals. The park’s route is a 0.8-mile walking path surrounded by stunning natural beauty.
This is a jewel of a park in Seguin, Texas, with lots of places for kids and families to play and experience outdoor recreation a mile or so just south of downtown Seguin on Austin St. (also known as Business 123, not to be confused with the 123 Bypass). Your children will love to play in this park, and once you explore it, you realize it is much bigger than it initially seems. The park and playground are free, but the wave pool and the golf course are NOT free.
The park area closest to the baseball fields has the most playground equipment. In the past two years, this park area has undergone improvements; Austin Street runs parallel to Starke Park, which the Guadalupe River bounds. The Starke public golf course, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, dog areas, group picnic areas, and concrete steps leading down to the Guadalupe River, where you may tie up a canoe or kayak, are all located on the west side of Austin Street. On the opposite side of the road from the river, heading towards the golf course, there are numerous group tables and single-spaced picnic tables along the river.
In addition to the sizable playground, baseball fields, and picnic tables on the east side of Austin Street, a wave pool is available from June until the start of the school year in late August. Before driving to the wave pool, check the hours. If you arrive after 4 pm, there is frequently a discount. For pool cleaning on Mondays, they are closed.
A covered basketball pavilion and a cycling trail can be found in addition to the playground, wave pool, and baseball fields. There are several spots to stroll, bring a blanket, and picnic in the former pecan orchard’s shade. Huge pecan trees still cover much of this area.
The “Power Station Restaurant” is so named because it was once a decommissioned hydropower plant and is now a restaurant situated on the other side of the river. It’s amazing to look at while you wait for your dinner, especially for those who are mechanically minded; some of the large machinery and perhaps one of the turbines—I’m not sure of the proper terminology—remain in the restaurant. You can choose to eat indoors with air conditioning or outside on the restaurant’s incredibly excellent huge outside-covered deck that overlooks the Guadalupe River.
If you and your family didn’t bring a picnic lunch to the park, you could cross the Austin Street bridge across the river and eat a hearty salad, a juicy Edison burger, or a burger with Swiss cheese and mushrooms in the spring or fall while taking in the wind from the river. Evenings in the summer can be pleasant on the terrace, and there may be live entertainment on warm weekend nights.
When visiting Max Starcke Park, bring your bikes, a basketball, a picnic lunch, and in the summer, your bathing suits and towels so you can enjoy this wonderful outdoor space (there is gravel around some of the play equipment). There is NO SHADE OVER THE PLAYGROUND DURING THE SUMMER’S HEAT AT MIDNIGHT. Suppose your children want to play on the playground. In that case, I advise arriving after 4 or 4:30 pm and remaining until early evening in July, August, and September to avoid the oppressive heat of the south Texas summer.
SUMMARY
Max Starcke Park has long served as a destination for Seguin locals, visitors, and tourists. The park has grown and changed throughout the years, while the city has changed to reflect the shifting cultural landscape. Max Starcke Park was formerly considered a whites-only park when it first opened during apartheid.
For the African American and Hispanic populations in other parts of the city, pools, and playgrounds were built at the same time as the park. In 1950s, Max Starcke Park underwent a complete integration process so that the city could use it as a single community. Through both active and passive means, Max Starcke Park is the driving force behind what makes Seguin a fantastic location for everyone to live, work, and play.
