History
Texas Land Commissioner, Johann Jacob Groos
(March 6, 1822 - June 15, 1878) A professional surveyor before and after coming to Texas in 1845 fom his native Germany, J. J. Groos helped open New Braunfels area to settlement. He served 1849-65 as a Comal County official, and was in Confederate militia during Civil War (1861-65). In 1874, Groos was elected Commissioner of the General Land Office of Texas and served four years, until his death.
History
Texas Newspapers, C.S.A.
Among privations endured in Texas during the Civil War (1861-65) was the shortage of newspapers, which dwindled from 82 (combined circulation: 100,000) to fewer than 20 by early 1862. Many newspapermen had closed shop and enlisted at once, when the war began. Others were forced to quit for lack of ink and paper, available only through Mexico or the blockaded Gulf Coast.
History
Texas School for the Deaf
In 1856, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Deaf and Dumb Asylum, which became the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD). Gov. Elisha M. Pease appointed a board of trustees, which rented land at this site.
History
Texas State Capitol
Austin became the capital of Texas on January 19, 1840, and this hill was platted as Capitol Square. A limestone statehouse built here in the 1850s soon developed structural flaws. The Constitutional Convention of 1876 set aside 3,000,000 acres of public land to finance a new statehouse. Architect E. E.
Architecture
The Academy
This house was constructed in 1889 for Myron D. Mather, President of Austin Water, Light & Power Company, who lived here until 1893. A fine derivative of the Shingle style, the structure is said to be partly constructed of granite left from the 1888 completion of the state capitol. It was briefly owned by Texas Supreme Court Justice Leroy G. Denman in 1897.
History
The Archive War
In 1839, Austin became the capital of the Republic of Texas. The national archives -- state papers and land titles -- were housed on Congress Avenue. In 1842, after Mexican armies seized San Antonio and seemed likely to capture Austin, many residents fled in what was called "The Breakup". From his home in Galveston, President Sam Houston ordered removal of the government papers.
History
The Austin Statesman
Begun as the "Democratic Statesman" in 1871 by the Democratic Party, in opposition to radical Reconstruction government in Texas. Quickly passed into private ownership popular first editor was attorney John Cardwell. Published daily since 1873, paper merged with "Austin American" in 1924. (1970)
History
The Gant Family
The Gant family is part of an elite group of musicians documented by the noted folklorist John A. Lomax and included in the Library of Congress music collection in Washington, D.C. The Gants brought tales and songs of Appalachia and the old world to the Texas hill country. They overcame hardship and strife, and played a significant role in the rise of the folk music scene in Austin.
History
The Gault Homestead
Included as part of a 320-acre land grant awarded to J. P. Whelin in payment for his service to the Republic of Texas Army, this property has had a long and varied history. Soon after he was granted the land, Whelin sold it to Nathaniel C. Raymond, who in turn sold it to John M. Gault two years later.
History
The Governor Horton Place
Albert C. Horton (1798-1865), a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, owned this property 1841-1852. The first man elected lieutenant governor after Texas joined the Union, he lived here while serving as chief of state May 19 - Nov. 13, 1846, when Gov. J. Pinckney Henderson was on duty with the U.S. Army in the Mexican War. A later owner was Judge Thomas H. Duval (1813-1880).
History
The Governor's Mansion
Official residence of the Governor of Texas. By law, each chief executive must live here during his term of office. Before the erection of this building in 1855-1856, the only official executive home had been the rough, two-story frame "President's House" at present Seventh and San Jacinto streets. Within these walls, many decisions of statewide import have taken place. Here in 1861, Gov.
History
The Herrera Family
Since their arrival in east Austin, generations of the Herrera family dedicated their lives to education. In 1911, Valentin (1859-1942) and Josefa (1898-1963) Herrera, originally from Mexico, and their seven children moved into a house near the corner of 3rd and Chicon Streets. The house became the center of both a bakery run by Josefa and a Spanish-language school taught by Valentin.
History
The Jeremiah Hamilton House
Born about 1839 in Tennessee, Jeremiah Hamilton was one of nine Black representatives in the 12th Texas Legislature, 1869-71. He bought this lot on Waller Creek in 1871 and began building this oddly shaped stone structure to house his grocery store. Italian-born Michael Paggi owned the property from 1873 to 1881.
History
The Johnson Home
Erected 1858 by Chas. Johnson, near the Wm. McGill Ford on the Colorado River. Built by fellow Swedes, of native stone from his own quarry and lime kiln. Walls are 18-inches thick. A stone-paved breezeway joined the two wings of the building.
History
The Old Zimmerman Home
Edward E. Zimmerman came to Texas, 1844, from Germany; settled here, 1854, with wife Regina Reinhard. They had 5 children. Zimmerman built this early Texas farmhouse, 1861, of hand-hewn cream colored rock from nearby hills; lumber from Bull Creek mills. One of first residences on route of Shawnee Trail (used by traders, immigrants, Indians and famous as a cattle trail in 1850's and 1860's).
History
The Original Townsite of Montopolis
Jesse Cornelius Tannehill (1797-1863) founded the original townsite of Montopolis; however, indigenous peoples had lived in and travelled through the area for thousands of years. El Camino Real de los Tejas, a historic trade route, forded the Colorado river near the present-day Montopolis bridge just east of this site. In 1839 Tannehill, his wife, Jane L.
Architecture
The Radkey House
A typical post-Civil War Austin dwelling, built about 1870 two blocks from the State Capitol for merchant and metalsmith Bernard Radkey (1846-83) and his wife, Mary Cummings Radkey (1851-96). Structure is of cypress wood. Radkey served as a city alderman (councilman) until just prior to his early death. Heirs enlarged and occupied the home until 1973.
History
The Railroad Commission of Texas
(75th Anniversary) Created in 1891, as result of years of political controversy, to regulate shipping rates, practices. Considered so important that Governor James S. Hogg persuaded John H. Reagan to resign from the United States Senate to head the original commission. Oil and gas regulation, a major responsibility, began in 1917 with jurisdiction over pipelines.
History
The Shipe House
Monroe Martin Shipe (b. 1847) had this residence built in 1892 in Austin's Hyde Park, a suburb which he developed on the site of the old state fairgrounds. A man of broad vision, Shipe brought innovative changes to the city's form of government, its public transportation system and other matters of civic concern.
Architecture
The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Headquarters
Dedicated to the pursuit of education and humanitarian programs, the Texas Federation Of Women's Clubs was founded in 1897. The goal of a permanent State Headquarters was realized with the construction of this building in the early 1930s.
Architecture
The Walter Tips Company Building
German native Walter Tips (1841-1911) migrated to the United States with his family in 1849 and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 1872 he and his partners, Williams Clemens and Joseph Faust of New Braunfels, purchased the Austin hardware business of Tips' brother Edward who had died earlier that year. Walter later became sole proprietor.
History
The Woman Suffrage Movement in Texas
Legal efforts to enfranchise women in Texas can be traced to 1868, when Rep. T. H. Mundine of Burleson introduced a woman suffrage bill in the state legislature. In the following five decades Texas women formed suffrage organizations to lobby for the right to vote.
History
Third Site for Travis County Government
Courthouse built here in 1939, 91st year of Travis County, which in early Texas was in municipality of Mina (later Bastrop), or Travis District, named for Wm. B.Travis, commander at the Alamo. Site of present-day Austin was chosen in 1839 (4th year of the Republic of Texas) as location for capital, and named for the father of Texas.
History
Tillotson College
Founded in 1875 by the Rev. George J. Tillotson with the support of the American Missionary Association and congregational churches, Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute was chartered in 1877. Building on a foundation already set in Austin by the Evans Industrial School, Tillotson College focused on teacher training and quality education for African Americans.
History
To John Williams and Howell Haggett
To John Williams and Howell Haggett. Killed by Indians in May, 1836 while detailed from Captain John J. Tumlinson's company of rangers to help protect the families of the Hornsby's settlement on returning from the "Run Away Scrape". To William Atkinson pioneer ranger buried near Daniel Hornsby when both were killed by Indians June 7, 1845. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
