time: 30 minutes
distance: About half a mile

Lambert Beach is an area in Brackenridge Park developed in the 1920s by then-commissioner Ray Lambert. The three major projects Lambert initiated here -- the now-closed swimming area, Joske Pavilion, and two bridges -- define the northern part of the park.

Ray Lambert came to San Antonio around 1892, worked as a stonecutter and saloon operator, and in 1903 was elected alderman of the First Ward, a position he held for ten years. When the city changed to the commission form of government in 1915, Lambert was elected Commissioner of Parks and Sanitation. Lambert was unschooled in park design. At the time of his death in 1927, it was noted, "Lambert was not, what technical ones would call, an artist. He had never studied landscaping, but he confessed to at least one reporter that the longing of his life was for beauty."

Lambert assumed the job of parks commissioner during the period when social reformers advocated for the integration of active recreational features into parks, and supporters of the City Beautiful Movement urged beautification of public spaces. Perhaps guided by these national trends, but with no training and limited funding, Lambert transformed Brackenridge Park.