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Austin History continued...
Long before European settlers came to the area that is now Austin, the area was inhabited by a mixture of Tonkawa, Commanche and Lipan Apache Indians. These tribes fished and hunted along the creeks, including what is present-day Barton Springs. Later, in the late 1700's, the Spanish set up temporary missions in the area.
The first Anglo settlers arrived in the area in the 1830's, when Texas was still a part of Mexico. They founded the small village of Waterloo along the banks of the Colorado River. Stephen F. Austin, known now as the “Father of Texas,” negotiated a peace treaty with the local Indians after several settlers were killed in raids.
In 1838, Republic of Texas Vice-President Mirabeau B. Lamar accepted an invitation from his friend Jacob Harrell for a hunting trip to central Texas. Buffalo were running free in the land along the Colorado River. As Vice-President Lamar surveyed the rolling landscape, he began to dream about all of the great cities following Rome's tradition of being built on seven hills. He immediately decided that the area should be the future home of the government in Texas.
A few months later, Lamar succeeded Sam Houston as president of Texas. He immediately decided to move the capital. In 1839, Waterloo was chosen as the new capital of the new Republic of Texas. The town was renamed Austin, in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Work immediately began on a new capitol building and the first 306 lots for the newly plotted city were sold on August 1, 1839. Later, in October, the entire government of the Republic of Texas arrived by oxcart from Houston. By the next January, the population of the town was 839 people.
In 1842, the capital of Texas was moved to Houston because of repeated attacks by Indians and Mexicans. However, by 1845, the capital had returned to Austin. Texas was also admitted to the Union in 1845. The mid-1800's brought a period of growth to the area and in September of 1881, the city schools admitted their first students. The population grew 629 in 1850 to nearly 3,500 in 1860. A large amount of construction on Capitol Hill resulted in several new landmarks. A new limestone capitol (completed in 1853), the Governor's Mansion (completed in 1856) and the Old General Land Office (completed in 1857), all added beauty to the growing town.
The city began to boom after the arrival of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad in 1871. Congress Avenue was paved and its drainage ditches were replaced by sewers. By the turn of the century, the city had electricity, telephones, theaters and opera houses. In 1895, the Moonlight Towers were built. These towers, which stood 165 feet, were streetlamps to light the city by night. In 1893, the Great Granite Dam on the Colorado River was constructed, stabilizing the river's flow and providing hydroelectric power.
A fire destroyed the original capitol building in 1881. In 1888, the state built a new capitol building. This new building was made of Texas Sunset Red granite and cost $3.7 million. It was then and is now the largest of the country's statehouses. At the time, it was also the seventh largest building in the world. In 1839, the Congress of the Republic ordered a site set aside for a university. However, it was not until 1882, that the construction actually began on that university. From its humble beginnings as a single building on the original forty acres, the University of Texas now ranks as the largest public university in the nation. More than 50,000 students attend classes each year on the sprawling campus.
In the 1930's, the original Great Granite Dam was replaced by a series of seven dams built by the federal government. These dams created the string of reservoirs that now define the river's course through Austin. Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was then a member of the House of Representatives, was instrumental in getting the funding for these dams.
In 1933, Kenneth Threadgill opened a gas station and beer-drinking establishment that he named, Threadgill's. By the early 1960's, his Wednesday night “Hootenannies,” or informal jam sessions, were attracting musicians from all around Texas. One of the first regulars on the bill was Janis Joplin. In the coming years, other music venues around the city began seeing their share of live acts as well.
Tragedy struck the city in 1966. Charles Whitman used a high-powered rifle to shoot and kill 16 people from the main building on the campus of the University of Texas. Even today, this event is considered the most traumatic even in the city's history.
In 1967, a technology boom brought growth to the city. Tracor set up its headquarters in the northwestern part of Austin. Other companies soon followed. Among them were IBM, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung and Dell.
During the 1970's, Austin experienced the next big thing for its music scene. Armadillo World Headquarters opened in 1970. This caused Austin to become a refuge for Country and Western musicians and songwriters seeking to escape the corporate industry domination of Nashville, Tennessee. Throughout the decade, the Armadillo was ground-zero for musicians like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kinky Friedman and Asleep at the Wheel.
The Armadillo did not stop at Country and Western music. The “dillo,” as it is known, also played host to rockers such as the Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa and Van Morrison. For those who could not attend these live performances, the popular television show, Austin City Limits, on public television, brought the performances into the homes of Texans all over the state.
The city experienced a large boom in development during the 1970's and 1980's. The boom temporarily halted with the Savings and Loan collapse in the late 1980's. This growth led to an ongoing series of fierce political battles that pitted preservationists against developers. In particular, the preservation of Barton Springs, and also the Edwards Aquifer, became issues which defined the themes of the larger battles.
The boom continued in the 1990's. Originally, the technology industry was centered around larger established companies such as IBM. However, in the late 1990's, Austin gained additional attention as being a center for the Dot-com boom.
The city once again received national attention in 2000. Austin was the headquarters of presidential candidate and Texas Governor George W. Bush. Ironically, the headquarters of Bush's main opponent, Al Gore, were in Nashville, igniting the old Country Music rivalry once again.
Today, the people of Austin are some of the brainiest in the United States. The city has the highest per capita rate of computer literacy, college degrees and book purchasing. The city has become the state's high-tech hotbed, attracting heaps of multinational and local computer hardware and software companies.
Austin is the home to many fine cultural and educational institutions. Among the museums located in Austin are the Austin History Center, the Austin Steam Train Association and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Among the colleges and universities that are located in Austin are Austin Community College, Austin Business College and the University of Texas.
Austin is also home to many tourist attractions. Among the city's more popular attractions are the Governor's Mansion, the State Capitol and Zilker Park. With all of this, Austin, Texas truly is a city that has it all.
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