Timeline of Austin, Texas explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Austin, Texas, USA.

19th century

• 1839
  • Austin designated capital of the Republic of Texas.
  • Waller Plan is developed as Austin's first city plan.
  • December 27: Austin incorporated.
• 1840
  • Edwin Waller becomes first mayor.
• 1841
  • Houston-Austin coach begins operating.
  • Austin Lyceum active.^[1]
  • French Legation built.
• 1842 - Texas seat of government relocated from Austin to Houston.
• 1845 - Austin becomes part of the new U.S. state of Texas.
• 1846 - Texas seat of government relocated back to Austin from Houston.
• 1850 - Population: 3,841.^[2]
• 1854 - Swenson Building and Ziller Building constructed.
• 1855
  • Texas State Capitol built.
  • St. David's Episcopal Church consecrated.
• 1857 - General Land Office Building constructed.
• 1859 - Buaas's Hall (assembly room) renovated.
• 1860 - Wharton College opens.
• 1871
  • Houston and Texas Central Railroad begins operating.
  • Democratic Statesman newspaper begins publication.^[3]
• 1872
  • Connectional High School and Institute founded.
  • Penn's Circulating Library in business.^[4]
• 1873 - Austin Library Association active.
• 1874 - St. Mary's Academy founded.
• 1875 - Austin City Railroad begins operating.
• 1876 - International–Great Northern Railroad begins operating.
• 1877
  • Stuart Female Seminary founded.^[5]
  • Tillotson College chartered.
• 1878 - St. Edward's University founded.
• 1881
  • November 9: State Capitol building burns down.
  • University of Texas at Austin established.
  • Austin High School opens.
• 1884
  • Congregation Beth Israel synagogue established.^[6]
  • Servant Girl Annihilator murders begin (ending in 1885.)
• 1885 - St. Edward's College established.
• 1886
  • Driskill Hotel in business.
  • Hill City Quartet formed.^[7]
• 1887 - Negro Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute opens.
• 1888 - Texas State Capitol rebuilt.
• 1894 - Heart's Ease Circle of King's Daughters (women's group) founded.
• 1895 - Moonlight towers installed.
• 1900
  • April: Austin Dam failure.
  • Samuel Huston College opens.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1902 - Nixon-Clay College and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary established.^[8]
• 1908 - Confederate Woman's Home opens.
• 1910 - Congress Avenue Bridge rebuilt.
• 1911 - Texas Fine Arts Association and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 205 established.
• 1917 - University of Texas' School for Military Aeronautics opens.
• 1918 - State Office Building constructed.
• 1921 - Austin Civic Theatre founded.
• 1923 - KNOW radio begins broadcasting.
• 1926
  • Council–manager form of government effected.
  • University Airport in operation.
• 1928
  • 1928 Austin city plan is delivered to City Council.
• 1929 - Howson Community Center established.^[9]
• 1930
  • Municipal Airport opens.
  • Population: 53,120.
• 1933
  • Austin Public Library building opens.
  • State Highway Building constructed.

• 1934
  • O. Henry House museum opens.
  • Junior League of Austin organized.
• 1935
  • Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters built.
  • Flood.
• 1937
  • UT Tower built.
  • KTBC radio begins broadcasting.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.
• 1938 - Montopolis Bridge built.
• 1941 - Austin Daily Tribune Building constructed.
• 1942
  • Bergstrom Army Air Field established.
  • Lamar Boulevard Bridge built.
• 1947 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin established.^[10]

1950s-1990s

• 1950 – Population: 132,459.
• 1952
  • KTBC-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
  • Burnet Drive-In cinema opens.
• 1953
  • YMCA of Austin chartered.
  • Travis High School opens in South Austin; McCallum High School opens in North Austin.
• 1956 - Ballet Academy founded.
• 1958
  • Goodwill Industries of Central Texas established.^[11]
  • Town & Country Food Stores in business.^[12]
• 1959 - Palmer Auditorium opens.
• 1960 – Population: 186,545.
• 1961 — Lanier High School opens. Its name was changed to Juan Navarro High School in 2019.
• 1962 - Austin Aqua Festival begins.
• 1963 - Jake Pickle becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.^[13]
• 1965
  • The Citizen newspaper in publication.
  • Reagan High School opens. Its name was changed to Northeast High School beginning in the 2019-2020 school year.
• 1966 - August 1: Whitman shootings.
• 1967
  • Vulcan Gas Company music venue active.
  • Fair Housing Ordinance established.^[14]
• 1968
  • Crockett High School opens.
  • Sister city relationship established with Saltillo, Mexico.^[15]
• 1970
  • Armadillo World Headquarters music venue active.
  • University of Texas' LBJ School of Public Affairs established.
  • Population: 251,808.
• 1971 - Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum dedicated.
• 1973
  • Austin Community College and regional Austin Transportation Study^[16] established.
  • L.C. Anderson High School (Mesa Drive) and Aquarius cinema^[17] open.
• 1975 - Austin Community Gardens created.^[18]
• 1976 - Austin City Limits television music program begins national broadcast.
• 1978 - Sister city relationship established with Maseru, Lesotho.
• 1979
  • Austin Public Library new main branch building opens.
  • Austin Shambhala Center founded.
• 1980
  • Whole Foods Market in business.
  • Population: 345,496.
• 1981
  • Capital Area Food Bank of Texas^[19] and Le Chef College of Hospitality Careers established.
  • Austin Chronicle and Austin Press newspapers begin publication.
  • Sister city relationship established with Lima, Peru.
• 1982
  • National Wildflower Research Center and La Peña arts group founded.
  • Pennybacker Bridge opens.
• 1983
  • Austin History Center active.^[20]
  • Austin Children's Museum established.^[21]
  • Sister city relationship established with Adelaide, Australia.
• 1984 - St. Michael's Catholic Academy established.
• 1985
  • Austin Film Society organized.
  • Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival begins.
• 1986
  • Austin Lyric Opera founded.
  • Sister city relationship established with Taichung, Taiwan.
• 1987
  • South by Southwest music festival begins.
  • Lamar Smith becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district.^[22]
• 1988
  • Dell Computer Corporation in business.
  • Bowie High School established.
• 1990
  • Sister city relationship established with Ōita City, Japan.
  • Population: 465,622.
• 1991 - Sister city relationship established with Koblenz, Germany.
• 1992
  • Austin Convention Center opens.
  • Hyde Park Theatre founded.
• 1993 - Sustainable Food Center^[18] and Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association chapter founded.
• 1994
  • Um-Al-Mumeneen-Sayeda-Khadija Mosque built.
  • Goodwill Computer Museum founded.http://www.austinmuseums.org/amp_profiles/goodwill-computer-museum-2/
• 1995
  • Lloyd Doggett becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.^[23]
  • Ordinary Mind Zen Group formed.^[24]
  • City website online.^[25]
• 1997 - Sister city relationship established with Xishuangbanna, China.
• 1998 - Linh-Son Buddhist Temple established.
• 1999
  • Austin–Bergstrom International Airport opens.
  • Dell Foundation and Foodways of Austin club established.
• 2000
  • Akins High School established.
  • George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000 headquartered in Austin.
  • Area of city: 251 square miles.
  • Population: 656,562.^[26]
  • Sister city relationship established with Orlu, Nigeria.

21st century

• 2001 - Sister city relationship established with Gwangmyeong, South Korea.
• 2002
  • Texas Archive of the Moving Image headquartered in city.
  • The inaugural Austin City Limits Music Festival is hosted in Zilker Park. ^[27]
• 2003
  • Texas Rollergirls founded.
  • Frost Bank Tower built.
• 2005 - Austin Film Critics Association founded.
• 2009
  • May: Austin mayoral election, 2009 held.
  • Texas Tribune headquartered in city.
  • Sister city relationship established with Antalya Kepez, Turkey.
• 2010
  • February 18: 2010 Austin suicide attack.
  • Capital MetroRail begins operating.
  • Austin Bulldog begins publication.^[28]
  • Area of city: 297.90 square miles.
  • Population: city 790,390;^[29] megaregion 19,728,244.^[30]
• 2011 - Sister city relationship established with Angers, France.
• 2012 - Austin Food & Wine Alliance established.
• 2013 - Population: 885,400.^[31]
• 2014
  • November 28: Larry Steven McQuilliams, 49, fired at least 100 shots at several government buildings and a police station before dying of a gunshot wound.^[32]
  • Sister city relationship established with Hackney, London.
• 2018 - In March, a series of explosions centered in Austin killed two civilians and injuring another five.^[33]
• 2020 - Population: 963,121. ^[34]
• 2021 - Austin FC of Major League Soccer plays their first game at Q2 Stadium.

See also

• History of Austin, Texas
• List of mayors of Austin, Texas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas
• Timeline of Texas
• Timelines of other cities in the Southeast Texas area of Texas: Beaumont, Houston, Pasadena

Bibliography

Published in 19th c.

• Book: Texas State Gazetteer and Business Directory. 1884. R.L. Polk & Co. . St. Louis. Internet Archive. Austin. https://archive.org/stream/texasstategazett01rlpo#page/n245/mode/2up.
  • Book: Texas State Gazetteer and Business Directory. 1890. R.L. Polk & Co. . Detroit. Internet Archive. Austin. https://archive.org/stream/texasstategazett31rlpo#page/n329/mode/2up.

Published in 20th c.

• Book: Directory of the City of Austin . 1912 . Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co. . University of North Texas Libraries .
  • • Austin's Streetcar Era . A.T. Jackson . . 58 . 2 . 235–248 . 1954 . 30237667 . .
• The City of Austin on the Eve of the Civil War . Larry Jay Gage . Southwestern Historical Quarterly . 63 . 3 . 428–438 . 1960 . 30240883 . .
• Stuart MacCorkle, Austin's Three Forms of Government (San Antonio: Naylor, 1973).
• First Picture Shows: Austin, Texas (1894 - 1913) . Burnes St. Patrick Hollyman . Journal of the University Film Association . 29 . 1977 . 3 . 3–8 . 20687375 . .
• Austin Human Relations Commission, Housing Patterns Study: Segregation and Discrimination in Austin, Texas (Austin, 1979).
  • Paul D. Lack, "Slavery and Vigilantism in Austin, Texas, 1840–1860," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 85 (July 1981).
• David C. Humphrey, Austin: An Illustrated History (Northridge, California: Windsor, 1985).
• Anthony M. Orum, Power, Money and the People: The Making of Modern Austin (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1987).
• David C. Humphrey, "A 'Muddy and Conflicting' View: The Civil War as Seen from Austin, Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 94 (January 1991).

Published in 21st c.

• Barnstormers, Businessmen, and High Hopes for the Future: Austin, Texas, Enters the Modern Air Age . Kenneth B. Ragsdale . Southwestern Historical Quarterly . 107 . 4 . 534–557 . 2004 . 30239461 . .
• Book: David Goldfield. David Goldfield. Encyclopedia of American Urban History. 2007. Sage. 978-1-4522-6553-7. Austin, Texas. 52–53.
• Crossing Over: Sustainability, New Urbanism, and Gentrification in Austin, Texas . Andrew M. Busch . . 10.18737/M7W90Q . 2015 . free .
• Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20181118151627/http://us-cities.survey.okfn.org/place/austin . Austin, TX . November 18, 2018 . U.S. City Open Data Census . . 2018 .

External links

• Web site: Austin, TX (Travis County) . David C. Humphrey . Handbook of Texas Online . .
• Items related to Austin, Texas, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
• Web site: Historical Maps of Texas Cities: Austin . . University of Texas at Austin .
• Web site: Resources for Local History and Genealogy by State: Texas . . Humanities and Social Sciences Division . Bibliographies and Guides . Washington DC .

Notes and References

1. Web site: American Libraries before 1876 . Davies Project . Princeton University . February 28, 2014 .
2. Book: Texas Immigrant and Traveller's Guide Book . J. DeCordova . Austin . DeCordova and Frazier . 1856 .
3. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington DC . Chronicling America . Library of Congress . February 28, 2014 .
4. A Circulating Library in the Southwest: J. S. Penn in Austin, Texas . Philip A. Metzger . Journal of Library History . 21 . 1 . 228–239 . 1986 . 25541689 .
5. Web site: Timeline . Women in Texas History . Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women's History . Austin . December 30, 2014 .
6. Encyclopedia: Austin, Texas . Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities . . Jackson, Mississippi . February 28, 2014 .
7. Web site: Austin Chronology . O. Henry in Austin . Austin History Center . February 28, 2014 . Austin History Center .
8. Book: Patterson's American Educational Directory . 29 . 1932 . Chicago . 2027/uc1.b3970358 . Patterson . Homer L. .
9. Web site: Austin (Tex). . Texas Archival Resources Online . University of Texas Libraries . University of Texas at Austin . February 28, 2014.
10. Web site: Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: USA . Oslo katolske bispedømme (Oslo Catholic Diocese) . Norway . May 30, 2015 .
11. Web site: Austin, Texas . . New York . Nonprofit Explorer . 9 May 2013 . Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei . February 28, 2014 .
12. Book: Andrew Smith . Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America . 2013 . 2nd . Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-973496-2 .
13. Book: Official Congressional Directory . Washington DC . Government Printing Office . 1968 . Texas . https://archive.org/stream/officialcongress00wash#page/173/mode/2up . Official Congressional Directory .
14. Web site: Five Decades of Social Change: A Timeline . Desegregation in Austin . Austin History Center . February 28, 2014 . Austin History Center .
15. Web site: Sister and Friendship Cities Program . December 30, 2015 . City of Austin .
16. Web site: Facts & Figures . Austin . Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization . September 12, 2016 .
17. Web site: Movie Theaters in Austin, TX . CinemaTreasures.org . Cinema Treasures LLC . Los Angeles . February 28, 2014 .
18. Web site: History . Austin, TX . Sustainable Food Center . February 28, 2014 .
19. Web site: Texas Food Banks . Food Bank Locator . . Chicago . February 28, 2014 .
20. Web site: Timeline of AHC History . Austin Public Library . City of Austin . February 28, 2014 .
21. Book: Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada . 2002 . 15th . 0759100020 . American Association for State and Local History . Texas: Austin . https://books.google.com/books?id=LY0Q5Rv4O3YC&pg=PA770 . 770+ . Rowman Altamira .
22. Web site: Members of Congress . . Civic Impulse, LLC . Washington, D.C. . February 28, 2014 .
23. Book: Official Congressional Directory . Washington DC . Government Printing Office . 1997 . Texas . 2027/mdp.39015038905678 . Official Congressional Directory .
24. Web site: Austin, Texas . Directory of Religious Centers . Pluralism Project . Harvard University . February 28, 2014 .
25. Popular Government . 0032-4515 . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . 6 . 3 . 1996 . Local Government Home Pages . Patricia A. Langelier . 38+ . Special Series: Local Government on the Internet .
26. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20090329040703/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4805000.html . March 29, 2009 . dead . Austin (city), Texas . State & County QuickFacts . U.S. Census Bureau .
27. Web site: TSHA | Austin City Limits .
28. Web site: Texas . CJR's Guide to Online News Startups . . New York . February 28, 2014 .
29. Web site: Austin (city), Texas . State & County QuickFacts . U.S. Census Bureau . February 28, 2014 .
30. Web site: Megaregions: Texas Triangle . September 12, 2016 . . USA . America 2050 .
31. Web site: The 15 Cities with the Largest Numeric Increase from July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013 . 2014 . US Census Bureau . Vintage 2013 Population Estimates.
32. http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/11/28/shooter-targets-downtown-buildings/19605941/ "Shooter targets federal courthouse, APD"
33. News: Package connected to Austin bombs exploded in San Antonio. Jason Hanna . Madison Park . Steve Almasy. CNN. 2018-03-21.
34. https://mtgis-portal.geo.census.gov/arcgis/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=2566121a73de463995ed2b2fd7ff6eb7