Insider's Guide To Austin, Texas
Austin Maps & Links to Austin Music, Austin Art, Austin Events, Austin Restaurants, Downtown Austin, Austin Travel, Austin Motels & More
Austin, Texas is the capital of Texas, the fourth largest city in the state and the sixteenth largest city in the United States. Originally settled in 1837 by Stephen F. Austin, “the father of Texas,” as the village of Waterloo, today Austin is a city of education, technology and music while still retaining much of the natural beauty and green spaces beloved by the original settlers.
AustinTex.com is a labor of love from long-time Austin resident Sandy McCrory. Sandy has been part of the Austin community for over thirty years from student at the University of Texas in the 1970's to mother to business owner. AustinTex.com is the ongoing result of her experiences, research and photos about what makes Austin special, including Austin events, Austin restaurants, Austin motels and Austin art.
The humorist and short story writer William Sidney Porter, who became famous under the pen name O. Henry, was one of Austin's earliest famous citizens. According to a tall tale spun by O. Henry, the unlikely group of Stephen F. Austin, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Ponce de Leon stopped at the foot of what is now Congress Avenue while navigating the Colorado River by canal boat.
Suddenly an idea struck Stephen F. Austin . He was too generous a man to conceal it. “Boys, let's start a town site here and call it Austin.”
“Just as you say,” they replied, and they laid out Austin. It has been laid out ever since.
In fact, the President of the new Republic, Mirabeau B. Lamar, sent a party of four men from Houston shortly after the founding of the Republic of Texas to located a site for the new capital. On April 13, 1839, they reported to the President that, "The imagination of even the romantic will not be disappointed on viewing the valley of the Colorado, and the fertile and gracefully undulating woodlands and luxuriant prairies at a distance from it."
Austin's first lots were sold at auction on August 1, 1839. Bidding began at $120 and the land sold quickly as people were eager to move to what was expected to be a lively and active place in the new Republic of Texas.
In the heart of Indian country, Austin was still a wilderness town with a number of different Indian tribes in the area, most notably the Comanches and the Wacos. The old west's famous cattle trail, the Chisholm Trail, passed by and through Austin on what are still some of Austin's most used thoroughfares, IH-35 and Lamar Boulevard.
A large number of early settlers were from Germany, including the famous sculptor and free spirit Elisabet Ney. She was often seen wearing long flowing gowns and black veils like an ancient Greek, or even more shocking, in men's overalls which she wore while working.
Another notable German immigrant was Augustus Scholz, who bought a house in Austin, then a cafe, then added a zoo and bowling alley until his property expanded to include an entire city block. The property became known as and was the center of celebration, good fellowship and famous singing festivals. William Sydney Porter sang with a quartette at Scholz Beer Garten during his days in Austin.
In 1966, a resolution was passed by the Texas House of Representatives which identified Scholz Beer Garten as "a gathering place for Texans of discernment, taste, culture, and erudition." Music and fellowship continue to emanate from Scholtz Beer Garten where it still stands today in the original spot at Sixteenth Street and San Jacinto and Austin continues to be full of free spirits and wild Indians.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, grew up in the Texas Hill Country and many of his family still live in the Austin area. The Austin radio station started by his family, K-LBJ, continues to broadcast Austin music and Austin news today.
President Johnson explained his love for the Texas Hill Country as, "There is something different about this country from any other part of the nation. The climate is generally pleasant, the sun is generally bright, the air seems to be always clean, and the water is pure. The moons are a little fuller, the stars are a little brighter ...."
Athens on the Colorado. The Capitol City. The City of the Violet Crown. The Third Coast. The River City. The Live Music Capital of the World. The Silicone Hills. Austin is a special place with many special names.
Countless people who come to Austin for a visit, to attend school or for a new job never leave. Austin music is known around the world today thanks to Austin City Limits and the annual South By Southwest Music Festival.
Today in Austin, as in the past, adventurers, musicians and artists rub elbows with the movers and shakers of finance, government and industry. There something special about Austin that bridges the past and the present.
Whether it's due to the geography, the history or the stars, Austin is a magnet for all kinds of weird and wonderful things.