AUSTIN, Texas — More than 70 years ago in Austin, a golf course became an important part of the early civil rights movement.

Lions Municipal Golf Course — “Muny,” as it’s known by locals in Austin — was the first integrated golf course in the South in early 1951.

The impact of Muny’s integration stretched far beyond the course. Other spaces around Austin, including a public library and a fire station, were also integrated in the early 1950s following the Muny’s desegregation.

Lions Municipal became a Texas historical site in 2009, and seven years later, the course was added to the National Register of Historic places.