Timeline of Austin, Texas facts for kids

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

19th century

1873 map of Austin

The Goddess of Liberty on the Texas State Capitol Grounds prior to installation on top of the capitol rotunda.

• 1839
  • Austin designated capital of the Republic of Texas.
  • December 27: Austin incorporated.
• 1840
  • Edwin Waller becomes first mayor.
  • Population: 856.
• 1841
  • Houston-Austin coach begins operating.
  • Austin Lyceum active.
  • 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.
• 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.
• 1872
  • Connectional High School and Institute founded.
  • Penn's Circulating Library in business.
• 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.
  • 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.
  • Servant Girl Annihilator murders begin (ending in 1885.)
• 1885 - St. Edward's College established.
• 1886
  • Driskill Hotel in business.
  • Hill City Quartet formed.
• 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.

20th century

1900s-1940s

Austin Dam failure

• 1900
  • April: Austin Dam failure.
  • Samuel Huston College opens.
• 1902 - Nixon-Clay College and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary established.
• 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.
• 1926
  • Council-manager form of government effected.
  • University Airport in operation.
• 1929 - Howson Community Center established.
• 1930
  • Municipal Airport opens.
  • Population: 53,120.
• 1933
  • Austin Public Library building opens.
  • State Highway Building constructed.

The Main Building of the University of Texas at Austin

• 1934
  • O. Henry House museum opens.
  • 1935
  • Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters built.
  • Flood.
• 1937
  • UT Tower built.
  • 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.

1950s-1990s

The Armadillo World Headquarters

The Pennybacker Bridge

• 1950 – Population: 132,459.
• 1952 - Burnet Drive-In cinema opens.
• 1953 - Young Men's Christian Association of Austin chartered.
• 1956 - Ballet Academy founded.
• 1958
  • Goodwill Industries of Central Texas established.
  • Town & Country Food Stores in business.
• 1959 - Palmer Auditorium opens.
• 1960 – Population: 186,545.
• 1962 - Austin Aqua Festival begins.
• 1963 - Jake Pickle becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.
• 1965
  • August 1: Texas tower shooting.
  • The Citizen newspaper in publication.
• 1966 - August 1: Whitman shootings.
• 1967
  • Vulcan Gas Company music venue active.
  • Fair Housing Ordinance established.
• 1968
  • Crockett High School opens.
  • Sister city relationship established with Saltillo, Mexico.
• 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 established.
  • L.C. Anderson High School (Mesa Drive) and Aquarius cinema open.
• 1975 - Austin Community Gardens created.
• 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
  • • Austin Chronicle and Austin Press newspapers begin publication.
  • Sister city relationship established with Lima, Peru.
• 1982
  • National Wildflower Research Center founded.
  • Pennybacker Bridge opens.
• 1983
  • Austin History Center active.
  • Austin Children's Museum established.
  • 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.
• 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 and Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association chapter founded.
• 1994
  • Um-Al-Mumeneen-Sayeda-Khadija Mosque built.
  • Goodwill Computer Museum founded.[1]
• 1995
  • Lloyd Doggett becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.
  • Ordinary Mind Zen Group formed.
  • City website online.
• 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.

21st century

The Frost Bank Tower

• 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.
• 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
  • Capital MetroRail begins operating.
  • Austin Bulldog begins publication.
  • Area of city: 297.90 square miles.
  • Population: city 790,390; megaregion 19,728,244.
• 2011 - Sister city relationship established with Angers, France.
• 2012 - Austin Food & Wine Alliance established.
• 2013 - Population: 885,400.
• 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.
  • Sister city relationship established with Hackney, London.
• 2018 - In March, a series of explosions centered in Austin killed two civilians and injuring another five.
• 2020 - Population: 963,121.
• 2021 - Austin FC of Major League Soccer plays their first game at Q2 Stadium.