 Facts at a Glance
Population: 567,000 (metro area 1.1 million)
Area: 218 sq miles (565 sq km)
Elevation: 550ft (165m)
State: Texas
Time Zone: Central Time (GMT/UTC minus 6 hours)
Telephone area code: 512
 History
Austin began life as the village of Waterloo along Texas' Colorado River (not the one of Grand Canyon fame). Legend has it that Republic of Texas vice president Mirabeau B Lamar came to the region on a hunting trip in 1838 and fell in love with what he saw. In 1839, the president of the republic, Sam Houston, commissioned the layout of the republic's new capital at Waterloo, which was renamed in honor of Stephen F Austin, the secretary of state under President Houston and so-called 'Father of Texas.'
The capital was moved to Houston in 1842 after repeated attacks by Indians and Mexicans but returned in 1845; construction on the first state capitol building began in 1853.
The city began to boom after the arrival of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad in 1871, and Congress Ave was paved, its drainage ditches replaced by sewers. By the turn of the century, the city was as cosmopolitan as many in the east, with electricity, telephones, theaters, opera houses and, from 1895, the Moonlight Towers - 165ft (50m) streetlamps to light the city by night.
The 1880s saw the construction of the current capitol building (the original burned in 1881) and the establishment of the University of Texas at Austin.
In 1933, Kenneth Threadgill opened a gas station and beer joint he called, originally enough, Threadgill's (where you can still drop in and see 'Travis County Beer License No 01'). By the early 1960's, his Wednesday night 'Hootenannies' - informal jam sessions - were attracting musicians from around Texas. Janis Joplin was a regular on the bill. In the years to follow, other music venues around town began seeing their share of live acts as well.
The next big thing on the Austin music scene was the opening of Armadillo World Headquarters in 1970. During that decade, the Armadillo was ground-zero for musicians like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kinky Friedman and Asleep at the Wheel. And the 'Dillo didn't stop at folk and country: it played host to seminal rockers such as the Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa and Van Morrison. For those who couldn't catch the happenings live, public television's Austin City Limits soon brought the experience home.
Today, Austin's liberal populace is one of the brainiest in the USA, with the country's highest per capita rate of (among other things) computer literacy, college degrees and book purchasing. No wonder the area's become Texas' high-tech hotbed, attracting heaps of multinational and local computer hardware and software outfits.
Austin was hit hard in 1998 by climatological chaos of biblical proportion: first with weeks of record-high temperatures - in the 90°F (33°C) range - followed by tornadoes and severe flooding when the drought finally broke in October. Damage across the state was extensive.
 When to Go
The storms of 1998 notwithstanding, Austin has a semitropical climate that's often downright pleasant. May through September is the rainiest, most humid period, but even August's heat spells are less severe than elsewhere in the state. As far as weather's concerned, fall and spring are the best times to visit. Winter (December to February) temperatures usually drop no lower than a brisk 38°F (4°C), while the most sweltering summer days top out at about 98°F (37°C).
Things can get crowded during the big music festivals, especially during South by Southwest in March. Otherwise, Austin doesn't have a definite tourist season. The bats come to roost between March and early November, if that counts.
 Orientation
Austin sits in south-central Texas, the easternmost state along the US border with Mexico, about 80 miles (130km) northeast of San Antonio, 165 miles (265km) west of Houston, 200 miles (320km) south of Dallas and 500 miles (800km) east of El Paso. The closest town on the Mexican border is Eagle Pass, about 225 miles (360km) southeast of Austin. The Colorado River (no, not that Colorado River) drifts through town on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, cradling the heart of the city in an upward-turning meniscus-shaped bend.
Downtown Austin is laid out in an orderly grid system. The main drag, Congress Ave, runs from the southern end of the city across the Colorado River and continues to the steps of the Texas State Capitol in the heart of downtown. Guadalupe St parallels Congress three blocks to the west; near the University of Texas campus in the northern downtown area, Guadalupe becomes the Drag, a student's mecca of cheap eats and music shops. East 6th St between Congress and Sabine is known as the Strip and boasts a dizzying collection of clubs, pubs and rollicking nightspots. The Warehouse District, south and west of Congress and West 6th Sts, is another entertainment district, catering to an older crowd, and the site of many gay and lesbian venues.
The city's current airport, Mueller Municipal, is a 15 minute drive northeast of the city. Its high-tech replacement, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is scheduled to open in 1999. The main Greyhound station is at the northern end of the city off I-35, convenient to nothing but itself and a few hotels. The Amtrak station is less than a mile west of downtown.
 Attractions
Capitol Complex
Smack in the middle of downtown, the Capitol Complex is made up of over two dozen state government offices. Like a pink mirage in the city center's sea of green, the Texas State Capitol (1888) is certainly Austin's most distinctive landmark. Constructed of sunset-colored Texas limestone, the capitol is topped with a statue of the Goddess of Liberty and (as its proud staffers are only too happy to tell you) ranks as the seventh largest government building in the world. Someone actually went to the trouble to measure the building from the basement floor to the top of the Liberty statue, and at 311ft (93m), it's taller than the national capitol in Washington, DC.
The capitol's rotunda features terrazzo seals of the six nations whose flag has flown over Texas. Inside the building you'll find the standard assortment of the state's top brass, including the chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives and the offices of the governor.
The lovely Greek Revival Governor's Mansion (1856) is a few blocks west. Under Texas law, the governor is required to reside here when in Austin. It's open for tours daily except during state holidays, official functions and whenever the governor's feeling private.
Along with adjoining Congress Ave, this central historical thoroughfare has been the focus of Austin's downtown area for more than 100 years, with many of the buildings holdovers from the late 19th century. When the Texas State Capitol was completed in 1888, Congress Ave stole the spotlight from East 6th St (then known as East Pecan) and the latter went into a lengthy period of decline that left it a virtual skid row by the 1960s. In the late '60s, local entrepreneurs took to restoring the area's aged Victorian and Renaissance Revival structures, and by the mid '70s, East 6th was jumping again as the city's main live-music and entertainment district. Since then, the party's just kept getting bigger, the lights brighter and the string of clubs and bars between Congress and Sabine - in the area known as the Strip - have been the main propellant in Austin's current rise to 'hipster' fame. On weekends, the Strip is cordoned off for pedestrian traffic only and the revelers take to the streets in droves. If you want to experience the Austin you've read about in Rolling Stone, this is the place to go.
Congress Ave Bridge
What's so special about this downtown bridge? Bats! The bridge's 1980 reconstruction created crevices beneath the bridge that somehow caught the attention of a homeless colony of Mexican free-tail bats. Each year they fly in from central Mexico, arriving in March and departing in early November. In June, each female gives birth to one pup, and every night at dusk, the families take to the skies in search of food. The spectacle of 1.5 million bats flitting forth at once looks a lot like a fast-moving, black, chittering river. It's become an Austin tradition to bring along a six-pack and cheer the bats as they head out to feast on an estimated 30,000lbs (13,500kg) of insects per night.
Bat Conservation International has volunteers on hand and holds programs throughout the bat season. Congress Ave Bridge crosses the Colorado at the southern end of downtown.
The LBJ Library on the University of Texas (UT) campus is a highlight of a visit to Austin. Lyndon Baines Johnson - or LBJ, as he was known to just about everybody - was the 36th president of the USA. A menacingly jovial native Texan, LBJ balanced the John F Kennedy campaign ticket with a southern political mainstay and, hours after JFK's assassination, was sworn in as president on board Air Force One. Supported by Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady, the museum contains as much propaganda as you'd expect but also offers a candid look at the social and political climate of the era. Look for video clips of head-bashin' cops and dope-smokin' hippies to complement solid exhibitions on the JFK presidency and assassination, the Bay of Pigs, Krushchev, the civil rights movement, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. Upstairs, a new exhibit on Mexican Texans details pre-republic Texas life.
Also on campus, the Texas Memorial Museum packs a huge art deco building with displays of Texas' natural and social history. Exhibits focus on geology, paleontology, anthropology and natural history. Don't miss the impressive pterodactyl skeleton.
The Archer M Huntington Gallery at UT is one art museum in two buildings: the Harry Ransom Center (HRC) on the West Campus and the Art Building on the East. The collection focuses on 20th century North American and Latin American art and on drawings from the 15th century on. Major figures represented include Elsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Joan Mitchel, Thomas Hart Benton and Robert Henri. On the first floor of the HRC is the museum's prized Gutenberg bible.
The university is located just north of the capitol complex and is easily accessed by bus No 86/Congress 'Dillo.
If there's an epicenter to outdoor recreation in Austin, it's Zilker Park, just south of the Colorado River about half a mile west of Congress Ave. The park itself is a pleasant 8 acre (3ha) slot of green, lined with hiking and biking trails and home to a botanical garden, sculpture garden and museum. It's also the city's access point to Barton Springs natural swimming pool, the Barton Creek Greenbelt and the 60 acre (25ha) Zilker Nature Preserve. Inside the park, the Austin Nature Center has exhibitions of native mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that have been injured and nursed back to health at the center. Buses are available from downtown.
 Off the Beaten Track
Colorado River
Just south of downtown, Town Lake is actually a dammed off section of the Colorado River, lined with hiking and biking trails. It's a very nice area - as you'd know if you were staying at the Hostelling International-Austin, whose windows overlook it. Northwest of the city on a bluff over the river, the Mayfield Estate and Nature Preserve is the former home of Texas Secretary of State and railroad commissioner Allison Mayfield. Mayfield settled this idyllic spot at the turn of the century, and for over 50 years he and his wife built up the estate's grounds with lily ponds, a gazebo overlooking the Colorado and a flower garden. The estate is very peaceful and far less crowded than the overlook at Mt Bonnell, the much-heralded highest point in the city.
National Wildflower Research Center
Anyone with an interest in flora and fauna should plan to visit this first-class center 20 minutes south of downtown Austin. Founded in 1982 with the assistance of Lady Bird Johnson, the center has a display garden featuring every type of wild flower and plant that grows in Texas, separated by geographical region. Excellent signage provides details such as the plants' range, bloom season and family. Note the aqueducts and cistern system, which are part of the largest rainwater harvesting network in North America.
The best time to drop in is between April and August, but there's something in bloom all year. There's a short nature trail and rock gardens as well as a playhouse for the kids and frequent programs to keep them busy. The center also maintains an enormous interactive database covering plants and wildflowers from all regions of the US. The center is about half a mile south of Austin and is easily reached by car, taxi or bus.
The area around the Balcones Escarpment of the Edwards Plateau, west of Austin and north of San Antonio, is known as Texas Hill Country. Boasting some of the most beautiful and entertaining landscape in the region, Hill Country is where Austinites flock to avoid the heat and humidity of summer days, and where outdoorsy types from across the state gather to tackle the limestone cliffs and rock formations. Whether it's the area's prime hiking, biking, climbing and horseback riding opportunities, or just the allure of pitching a tent and watching the stars come out, the rolling landscape here is central Texas' largest natural attraction.
Still, the appeal of Hill Country isn't totally nature made. One of the region's most popular towns, Fredericksburg, is a favorite of antique shoppers and western history buffs. Or if the thrill of ropin' doggies serves to twirl your lasso, nearby Bandera has the market cornered on dude ranches. And for rhinestone cowfolk and other city slickers who prefer their Westernalia watercolored, the residents of the Cowboy Artists of America Museum in Kerrville are only too happy to provide.
Probably the most common (and immediately gratifying) Hill Country excursion is at its eastern border just outside of Austin. The Salt Lick BBQ in tiny Driftwood shows how barbecue was meant to be enjoyed: outdoors, weather permitting, with the meats prepared over an open pit and the buzzards circling overhead. The 45 minute drive to reach the ranch restaurant is an Austin weekend institution - it's not the place for a quiet night alone, but with everyone from presidents to rock stars among the clientele, you may well run into someone famous.
Fredericksburg is about 80 miles (130km) west of Austin, Bandera about 100 miles (160km) southwest, Driftwood about 25 miles (40km) west, and all are best reached by car. In fact, you really need to have your own transport to fully enjoy the area; public transportation in Hill Country is downright pathetic.
About 65 miles (100km) southeast of Austin, in an area thick with descendants of Czech and German immigrants, the small town of La Grange was known for generations as a quiet community in a region of rolling hills and farmland. That all changed in the 1970s, when the town made national news by unveiling its local cathouse, the Chicken Ranch. The brothel was immortalized in the Broadway musical and Hollywood movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and though the Chicken Ranch is no longer with us, La Grange has never quite shaken its randy image.
Just south of town, Monument Hill Historical Park is the burial ground for the Texans who died in two major conflicts with Mexico in 1842: the Dawson Massacre and the subsequent, retaliatory Mier Expedition. Nearby, the Kreische Brewery State Historical Site provides guided tours of the ruins of one of Texas' oldest breweries, and the adjacent Hermes Drug Store (1856) lays claim to being the oldest drugstore in continuous operation in Texas. La Grange is best reached by private transport.
 Activities
When the weather heats up, tubing, kayaking and canoeing are weekend mainstays at the lakes just west of Austin and along the waterways of Barton Springs Greenbelt, south of downtown. There are access points at several spots along Barton Creek. Likewise, the natural swimming pool at Barton Springs is hugely popular for summer dunks - the pool maintains a constant 68°F (21°C) year round. Birdwatching is another greenbelt attraction, and sightings of green and little blue herons, belted kingfishers and wood ducks are common. The nature trails of Zilker Nature Preserve are popular for hiking and walking.
Bicycling is another favorite pastime of Austinites, and there are some 30 miles (50km) worth of trails within the city limits, another stretch within the greenbelt and a 'veloway' through nearby Slaughter Creek Metropolitan Park. Rock climbing in the Hill Country is also big, and there's even one of those see-and-be-scene climbing gyms downtown.
 Events
Austin hosts a helluva lot of hoedowns every year, most of them centered around one thing: music. Kicking off the season is South by Southwest (SXSW), an internationally renowned music, film and multimedia conference that packs the city every March. Many shows and events are free, but you'd better book early if you want to see the big ones. Also in March is local good ol' boy Jerry Jeff Walker's Birthday Celebration, featuring three days of dancing and rodeos and a Saturday night serenade by JJ himself. Soon after, the Old Settlers Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival and the Downtown Conjunto Festival get the city's toes tapping again to more traditional beats. Two celebrations in June - the Green Mesquite Rhythm & Blues Festival and the Clarksville/West End Jazz & Arts Festival - honor the talent of local musicians.
Apart from the mostly-music festivals, Austin celebrates itself and its culture with several major events both whimsical and sincere. Spamarama in late March honors the oft-maligned tinned meat, while the real stuff takes the spotlight in the Austin-Travis County Livestock Show & Rodeo - the BBQ competition is not to be missed. In mid-May, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated con mucho gusto at Fiesta Gardens, while Fiesta Laguna Gloria entwines arts and crafts displays with the trimmings of a Mexican fiesta - look for mariachi musicians and folk dancers at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum toward the end of the month. The 4th of July is celebrated as the Freedom Festival in Austin, with live music, lots of food and a rocking fireworks display in Zilker Park.
Probably the biggest event of the year - aside from SXSW - is Aquafest, held on weekends in late July and early August. Events include water sports exhibitions and tournaments, music and dance festivals, and a parade-by-night at Town Lake's Auditorium Shores. Halloween ushers in a mad block party along 6th St, though the next day's Día de los Muertos celebrations are a whole lot spookier. There's a big-deal Thanksgiving Day football game between UT and Texas A&M, as well as the standard slew of Christmas-season revelries.
Public Holidays:
1 January - New Year's Day
Third Monday in January - Martin Luther King Jr Day
Third Monday in February - Presidents' Day
Late March or April - Easter
Last Monday in May - Memorial Day
4 July - Independence Day
First Monday in September - Labor Day
Second Monday in October - Columbus Day
11 November - Veterans' Day
Fourth Thursday in November - Thanksgiving
25 December - Christmas Day
 Getting There & Away
While Austin builds a new airport at the former Bergstrom Air Force Base, travelers use Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, about 20 minutes' drive northeast of the city. Houston and Dallas are Texas' major hubs for domestic and international carriers; Mueller sees mostly intrastate traffic.
The main Greyhound depot and the Kerrville Bus Company station are on E Koenig Lane at the northern end of the city - convenient to nothing but themselves, a few hotels and the Highland Mall. From the Greyhound station, take bus No 7/Duval to downtown. Travel to Dallas takes from 3.5 to 5 hours by bus, to Houston around 3 hours, to San Antonio about 90 minutes. Note that service to most Hill Country destinations is limited to one bus a day.
The Amtrak station is on N Lamar Blvd, less than a mile west of downtown. Austin is served by both the Texas Eagle, between San Antonio and Chicago, and the Sunset Limited, between Miami and Los Angeles.
Austin is at the crossroads of several interstate highways, so finding your way there shouldn't prove difficult. To get to Dallas/Fort Worth and Waco, take I-35 N; to San Antonio, take I-35 S. I-10 heads east to Houston and west to El Paso. Driving is on the right.
 Getting Around
Austin's tiny Robert Mueller Municipal Airport is only 3 miles (5km) north of the city center, and there are a selection of buses, taxis, shuttles and car rentals to get you into town and back.
Capital Metro is the city's public bus network, with a solid system of inexpensive neighborhood, express and downtown routes. The latter, known as 'Dillos (short for Armadillo Express), are free.
The Texas Steam Train Association runs several tours aboard the Hill Country Flyer steam train into and around Texas Hill Country. The train makes short half hour jaunts as well as a 30 mile (50km) circuit on weekends March through December.
Parking downtown is difficult; look for municipal parking garages, as officers will ticket you in the blink of an eye. There are several cab companies on call if you'd prefer to avoid the driving hassle altogether.
Bikes not Bombs runs Austin's free Yellow Bike Program, which repairs old bicycles, paints them yellow and makes them available free for public use. When you see a yellow bike you can pick it up, ride were you're going and leave it there for the next rider. There are about 150 yellow bikes at present and more to come. If you can't find a yellow one when you need it, bicycles are available for rent in the city center.
 Recommended Reading
- A good general history of Texas from European discovery to the 1920s is contained in the excellent Texas Almanac, a compendium of just about everything to do with Texas and life in the state; another good source is Mike Kingston's Concise History of Texas.
- For a history of Native American life, there are two solid choices: Angie Debo's wonderful A History of the Indians of the United States and WW Newcomb Jr's The Indians of Texas - from Prehistoric to Modern Times.
- Two top-notch histories of African American life in Texas come by way of Alwyn Barr's Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 and Bricks Without Straw: A Comprehensive History of African Americans in Texas, edited by David A Williams.
- Caldera Publishing's Austin's Favorite Places Guide to restaurants, coffeehouses and microbreweries is pretty good, though it constantly refers to things that 'we' like and never mentions the authors by name.
- The Texas Monthly Guidebook series has an excellent guide to Texas Hill Country, while the Sierra Club's Outdoors Austin shines as a resource to outdoor activities in and around the city and Texas Hill Country.
- Nobody, but nobody, beats Molly Ivins on pure acerbic wit and the exposure of Texisms big and small. The nationally syndicated columnist lives in Austin; her books include Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?, Nothin' but Good Times Ahead and You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You: Politics in the Clinton Years.
- Of all Texas' literary stars, Michigan-transplant James A Michener seems to loom largest. He's best-known for his fictionalized histories (including, of course, Texas), but Austinites toast him for the Michener Collection of 20th Century American Art in Austin and the Texas Center for Writers at UT Austin.
- Austin-based Carol Dawson has produced three superbly received novels in recent years, all told with blistering satire, an astounding attention to detail and magnificent plots. They are The Waking Spell, Body of Knowledge and Meeting the Minotaur.
- Kinky Friedman, the cat-loving, cigar-chomping, lovable frontman for the country-western group Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys, currently sits in his Texas Hill Country ranch writing books that star himself as an amateur private detective. Look for Armadillos and Old Lace and A Case of Lone Star.
- When you're in one of your bloodthirstier moods and find yourself hankering for a good serial-killer novel, look no further than Austin-based David Lindsey's Mercy.
 Lonely Planet Guides
 Travelers' Reports
 On-line Info
|
