Alexander Penn Wooldridge (April 13, 1847 – September 8, 1930) was an American politician and attorney who served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

from 1909 to 1919.

Biography

Wooldridge was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on April 13, 1847, to Absalom and Julia Webber Davis. After graduating from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, he became a professor of physical science at Bethel College. In 1872, Wooldridge moved to

, where he became an attorney. In the early 1890s, he led the campaign to build the

Austin Dam The Austin Dam, also known as the Bayless Dam, was a concrete gravity dam in the Austin, Pennsylvania, area that served the Bayless Pulp and Paper Mill. Built in 1909, it was the largest dam of its type in Pennsylvania at the time. The catast ...

across the Colorado River; the dam failed in a flood in 1900. Wooldridge was the president of Austin's City National Bank in 1896 and also served as the first President of the Board of Trustees of the

Austin Independent School District Austin Independent School District (AISD) is a school district based in the city of Austin, Texas, United States. Established in 1881, the district serves most of the City of Austin, the neighboring municipalities of Sunset Valley and San Lea ...

. He is sometimes called "The Father of Public Education in Austin." In 1909, he was elected as

Mayor of Austin The mayor of Austin is the official head of the city of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. The office was established in 1840 after Austin incorporated as a city in 1839. The mayor of Austin is elected to a four-year term and limited to serving ...

. During his tenure, the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 occurred. At the height of the epidemic, the city passed an ordinance closing the state university, all public and private schools, and all churches for a period of 30 days. He retired from the position in 1919. Wooldridge died on September 8, 1930, in

. he is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

Personal life

On September 18, 1874, Wooldridge married Ellen Waggener. They had seven children together. After her death, he married Nellie Wylie Holden on July 9, 1917. Wooldridge Park and Wooldridge Elementary School are named after him.

References

External links

* 1847 births 1930 deaths Politicians from New Orleans University of Virginia alumni Texas lawyers Mayors of Austin, Texas American bankers {{Austin-stub