Austin, Texas
Texas Hill Country Guide
Austin
TEXAS
Resources
and
Information
including
Hill
Country
Ranches,
Bed &
Breakfasts,
Homes,
Cabins,
Vacations
and more
Austin Texas hasn't
always been the
bustling city
that it is
today. This
gentle bend in
the Colorado
River had many
residents and
visitors long
before the first
cornerstone was
laid.
For hundreds of
years, nomadic
tribes of Tonkawas, Comanches, and
Lipan Apaches
camped and
hunted along the
creeks,
including what
is now known as
Barton Springs.
In the late
1700s, the
Spanish set up
temporary
missions in the
area. In the
1830s the first
permanent Anglo
settlers arrived
and called their
village
Waterloo.
In 1839, tiny
Waterloo was
chosen to be the
capital of the
new Republic of
Texas. A new
city was built
quickly in the
wilderness, and
was named after
Stephen F.
Austin, "the
father of
Texas." Judge
Edwin Waller,
who was later to
become the
Austin, Texas' first
mayor, surveyed
the site and
laid out a
street plan that
has survived
largely intact
to this day. In
October 1839,
the entire
government of
the Republic
arrived from
Houston in
oxcarts. By the
next January,
the Austin's
population had
swollen to 856
people.
Today, Austin, Texas is
known as much
for its cultural
life and
high-tech
innovations as
it is for the
senators and
schoolteachers
who shaped its
beginnings. The
same success
that has gained
the city a
national
reputation has
brought with it
many difficult
choices, as the
city expands on
a scale that
might shock the
early residents
of Waterloo.
As a new century
begins, and as
Austin completes
its
transformation
from town to
city to metro
area, the city
and its people
face decisions
on how the city
will preserve
its past, and
how we will
allow that past
to shape our
future.
Biruta Celmins
Kearl
Curator Emerita,
Austin History
Center
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of
Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the
American Southwest,[7] it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the
15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing
large city in the
nation
from 2000 to 2006.[8] According to the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, Austin
had a population of 757,688.[4] The city is the cultural and economic
center of the Austin–Round Rock Metropolitan Area, with a population of
1,652,602 as of the July 2008 U.S. Census estimate—making it the
36th-largest- and 2nd-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation.
The area was settled in the 1830s on the banks of the Colorado River by
pioneers who named the village Waterloo.[9] In 1839, Waterloo was chosen
to become the capital of the newly independent Republic of Texas. The
city was renamed after Stephen F. Austin, known as the father of
Texas.[9] The city grew throughout the 19th century and became a center
for government and education with the construction of the Texas State
Capitol and the University of Texas.[10] After a lull in growth from the
Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a major city and
emerged as a center for technology and business.[9] Today, Austin is
home to many companies, high-tech and otherwise, including three Fortune
500 corporations, Dell, Whole Foods Market, and Freescale
Semiconductor.[11]
Austin was selected as the No. 2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live"
by Money magazine in 2006, and No. 3 in 2009, also the "Greenest City in
America" by MSN.[12][13] According to CNN Headline
News
and Travel & Leisure magazine, Austin ranks No. 2 on the list of cities
with the best people, referring to the personalities and attributes of
the citizens.[14] Austin was also voted America's #1 College Town by the
Travel Channel.[15] Austin was ranked the fifth-safest city in part
because there are fewer than 3 murders per 100,000 people
annually.[16][17]
Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites" and include a diverse mix
of university professors, students, politicians, musicians, state
employees, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and white-collar
workers. The main campus of the University of Texas is located in
Austin. The city is home to enough large sites of major technology
corporations to have earned it the nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's
official slogan promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the
World," a reference to its status as home to many musicians and music
venues.[1][2] In recent years, many Austinites have also adopted the
unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers partly to the
eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents but is also
the slogan for a campaign to preserve smaller local businesses and
resist excessive commercialization.
A great way to enjoy a weekend r
The History of the Bed And Breakfasts
Texas Hill Country
A great way to enjoy a weekend relaxing at an
interesting location is to book a unique Bed and Breakfast. B&B's as
they are commonly referred to, have a long and interesting history.
While the B&B has been around for ages, the B&B that we are familiar
with now can be tracked back over 100 years.
The usual arrangement for a B&B is a home in which
there are rooms that can accommodate between 2 and 12 guests,
normally 1 to 6 rooms. Early B&B's generally targeted travelers that
were passing through. Areas that were popular for B&B's were
mountain regions of the Northwest such as California and Colorado,
as well as other regions, specifically the New England States.
Most of the travelers that frequented B&B's in the
1800's were pioneers, miners, or professionals traveling from one
area to another. Many B&B's offered an accommodation for the night
along with a breakfast in the morning which hungry travelers took
advantage of before starting on the next leg of their journey.
Before the 1900's, most of these B&B's were private residences that
catered to specific types of people. As an example, a doctor or
lawyer would offer accommodation for other professionals, and a
middle class home owners offered accommodations for cowboys, miners,
pioneers, etc.
As more hotels, inns and lodges were built in the
1900's, B&B's became an affordable accommodation for people passing
through small towns or in areas that weren't heavily developed.
Currently, Texas Hill Country B&B's offer warm and
cozy alternatives to the corporate hotel or motel. Many Texas Hill
Country B&B's take pride on being privately owned and operated, as
well as offering quaint and cozy homes in locations that offer
historical, leisure or small town attractions.
If you're planning to visit the hill country you
can find a lot of B&Bs by searching your perfect accommodation on by
searching our website, Texas Hill Country, for Bed and Breakfasts,
Guest Houses and Country Inns.
Charley Eckhardt's Texas
Keep yer powder dry
Keep yer powder dry!
Black gunpowder is extremely hygroscopic. That's a five-dollar
word scientists use to mean stuff that gets wet real easy. In
fact, black gunpowder will absorb enough moisture from very
humid air to make it unusable. 'Keepin' yer powder dry' was of
the utmost importance in the early West...
Before Maw Bell - Rural Telephone Systems in the West
Alexander Graham Bell's patent expired in the 1890s, and as soon
as it did anyone could legally manufacture and sell a telephone.
Almost instantly both Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward began
offering telephone sets in their catalogs... Across much of the
west, to the west of old US 81 (present I-35) in Texas... there
was already a network of wire covering most of the country, in
the form of barbed-wire fences...
The Forgotten Hero
Who was the first, and possibly the greatest, hero of the Texas
Revolution? He's a man you may have heard of, but not very
often. Try Ben Milam...
nation
from 2000 to 2006.[8] According to the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, Austin
had a population of 757,688.[4] The city is the cultural and economic
center of the Austin–Round Rock Metropolitan Area, with a population of
1,652,602 as of the July 2008 U.S. Census estimate—making it the
36th-largest- and 2nd-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation.
News
and Travel & Leisure magazine, Austin ranks No. 2 on the list of cities
with the best people, referring to the personalities and attributes of
the citizens.[14] Austin was also voted America's #1 College Town by the
Travel Channel.[15] Austin was ranked the fifth-safest city in part
because there are fewer than 3 murders per 100,000 people
annually.[16][17]