Timeline of Austin, Texas

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

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.

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



 * 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.
 * 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
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.

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).
 * 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).
 * 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).