Donkey Barn

Donkey Barn. . The First Supervised Recreation Program in San Antonio offered free donkey rides for children in Brackenridge Park. The program began in 1916 when Parks Commissioner Ray Lambert secured a gift of twelve burros from the Rotary Club of San Antonio. Park employees were assigned to oversee rides and care for the animals that eventually included both burros and donkeys. Slow moving caravans carried children from a stone corral in the north part of the park along a winding, mile-long trail. The rides became the most popular attraction in Brackenridge Park and continued until the early 1940s. The stone corral was then used for storage until 1956, when it was enlarged and converted to offices for the Parks and Recreation Department. The building, still known as the "Donkey Barn," is now used by the San Antonio Zoo., Captions , Lower Left: Children gave their favorite animals names such as Big Blue, Matt, and Maggie. Young riders are seen in this c. 1930 photograph. , Courtesy: Witte Museum, San Antonio., Lower Middle: The mile-long trail began and ended near the river in the north part of Brackenridge Park. This detail from a 1930s map illustrates the trail's winding route through the area north of Lambert Beach. , Courtesy: Texana/Genealogy Collection, San Antonio Public Library, Lower Right: Donkey rides were supervised for many years by parks department employee Ernest Young. He was loved by thousands of children, and many attended his funeral in 1927. Young, known to children as "Peg," was the subject of this 1921 newspaper article. , Source: San Antonio Light, August 14, 1921, Courtesy Heart Corpondon