Timeline of Austin, Texas

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

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.
• 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.
• 1900
• April: Austin Dam failure.
• Samuel Huston College opens.

20th century

1900s–1940s

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

1950s–1990s

• 1949 - The Austin City Coliseum opens.
• 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.
• Town & Country Food Stores in business.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Highland Mall opens. Closed in 2015.
• 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.
• Northcross Mall opens. Closed in 2010.
• 1976 – Austin City Limits television music program begins national broadcast.
• 1977 – The Frank Erwin Center arena, on the University of Texas campus, opens. Demolished in 2024.
• 1978 – Sister city relationship established with Maseru, Lesotho.
• 1979
• Austin Public Library new main branch building opens.
• Austin Shambhala Center founded.
• ArmadilloCon held for the first time in May.
• 1980
• Whole Foods Market in business.
• Population: 345,496.
• 1981
• Capital Area Food Bank of Texas and Le Chef College of Hospitality Careers established.
• Austin Chronicle and Austin Press newspapers begin publication.
• Sister city relationship established with Lima, Peru.
• Barton Creek Square Mall opens.
• 1982
• National Wildflower Research Center and La Peña arts group founded.
• Pennybacker Bridge opens.
• 1983
• Austin History Center active.
• Austin Children's Museum established.
• Sister city relationship established with Adelaide, Australia.
• The Luedecke Arena on the grounds of the Travis County Exposition Center, opens.
• 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.
• 1995
• Lloyd Doggett becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 10th congressional district.
• Ordinary Mind Zen Group formed.
• City website online.
• Lakeline Mall opens.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 2022 – The Moody Center arena, on the University of Texas campus, opens. Replacing the Frank Erwin Center.

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

References

Bibliography

Published in 19th c.

Published in 20th c.

• Stuart MacCorkle, Austin's Three Forms of Government (San Antonio: Naylor, 1973).
• 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.

External links

• Items related to Austin, Texas, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)