Manchaca ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Travis County, Texas, United States. It is located southwest of downtown Austin. This was a new CDP for the 2020 census with a population of 2,266.
History
Early development around Manchaca probably stemmed from the springs in the area. Manchaca Springs are a stopping place along a portion of the Old San Antonio Road and later the Chisholm Trail.
Over time there has been much conjecture as to the origin of the name "Manchaca". One school holds that "Manchaca" is derived from the Choctaw word imashaka, meaning "behind it" or "to the rear." There are two areas in Louisiana that carry that name: Manchac Pass and Bayou Manchac. However, another theory holds that Manchaca Springs was named for Tejano army officer José Antonio Menchaca. The current pronunciation of the name 'Manchaca' stems from simple Anglicization.
The springs are referred to as "Manshack Springs" in a collection of memoirs written by an early Anglo settler describing life in 1840s Texas, Recollections of Early Texas: Memoirs of John Holland Jenkins. Thomas Falconer, an English explorer who passed through the area in 1841 referred to the springs as "Manjack's Springs" in his manuscripts. Early maps and newspaper articles indicate the spelling was "Manchac Springs," orthography corroborated by maps produced by noted Tejano land agent Jacob de Cordova in 1849 currently housed at the Texas General Land Office in Downtown Austin.
An early owner of Manchaca Springs was Washington D. Miller, a South Carolina native who went on to serve as a Republic of Texas congressman, private secretary to Sam Houston and after Texas joined the Union, Secretary of State of Texas. The first post office to serve the area was the Manchac House post office that opened two miles south of the present-day location of Manchaca in 1851. The office closed the following year. Also in 1852, Miller negotiated the sale of the springs to Virginia native Adolphus Weir who ran a stagecoach stop on the property. Descendants of the Weir family retained land in the area until well into the 20th century.
A second post office, located at the present-day site of Manchaca, operated from June 1874 to May 1875. Afterwards area residents received mail in the unincorporated community of Onion Creek. The area began to grow when the International-Great Northern Railroad opened in 1880; a third post office, called Manchaca, opened. By 1884 the 75-resident community was a shipping point for cotton, grain, lumber, and posts. In the 1890s a Methodist church, hotel, and a school had opened. The common school district serving Manchaca, had three grade schools noted on a 1932 Travis County Engineering Department map housed at the Perry–Castañeda Library at the University of Texas; one for White students located on what is today the northeast corner of FM 1626 and Manchaca Road, one grade school for African American students located at what is today 753 FM 1626, and one grade school for Mexican American students located just off Polk Road near the railroad tracks. These schools became the focus of the community. The district joined forces with the Oak Hill district to form a new high school district in 1961. AISD annexed the entire high school district in 1967. Local development increased by the mid-1980s, and accelerated through the early 2000s.
Geography
Manchaca has a total area of , all land.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Manchaca has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.