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National Register Historic Districts in Austin
Do you know that you can use the Texas Historcal Commission's website to find the NRHP sites in Austin? That way, you don't have to look to far to find them all in the downtown area. http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-kword.htm
▪ Downtown
Congress Avenue Historic District Congress Avenue from 1st to 11th Streets 38.3 acres, 89 buildings
All ten blocks of Congress Avenue, from the State Capitol at 11th Street down to Cesar Chavez Street (1st Street) at the north shore of Lady Bird Lake, are filled with buildings old and new that speak of Austin’s history, and especially its business, political, and social life. Included in the wide variety of architecture are dozens of commercial buildings in Late Victorian and various Revival styles. Particularly iconic are the State Capitol, the Governor’s Mansion (which suffered a fire during renovation in 2008 and awaits full restoration), St. Mary’s Cathedral, Lundberg Bakery, Paramount Theater, and the Littlefield and Scarborough Buildings, all on the National Register of Historic Places. Austin’s Visitor Information Center conducts a guided 90-minute walking tour of this district along with the Sixth Street (Pecan Street) Historic District. The tour meets at the south entrance of the State Capitol at 9am Thursday-Saturday and 2pm Sunday and requires a 48-hour advance reservation at 866-GO-AUSTIN or 512-478-0098. The walking tour brochure with detailed information and photographs is available at http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/plan_your_trip/historic_walking_tours/.
Bremond Block Historic District Between Guadalupe, San Antonio, 7th and 8th Streets 5 acres, 11 buildings
The Bremond Block is named for the prominent family that built six of the ornate and well-maintained 19th century houses in this district, in Greek Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, Colonial Revival, and Queen Anne styles. On the west side of the block, on San Antonio street, four additional houses from the same era face the Bremond Block, and another residence faces the block from the south, on 7th Street. Austin’s Visitor Information Center has produced a walking tour booklet for the district with detailed information on the history of these structures and the people who built and lived in them. The tour extends north of the block to include important buildings from the Austin History Center to the Texas Governor’s Mansion and is a delightful way to explore the west side of downtown. A 90-minute guided tour meets at the south entrance of the State Capitol at 11am Saturday and Sunday and requires a 48-hour advance reservation at 866-GO-AUSTIN or 512-478-0098.
Sixth Street Historic District 5th to 7th Streets, Lavaca Street to I-35 28 acres, 135 buildings
Sixth Street was originally called Pecan Street, a name still often used to evoke the historical facet of this entertainment-oriented area. From the glory of the Driskill Hotel, to commercial buildings both grand and plain, to beautiful St. David’s Church, and all the modern public eating and drinking establishments in between, Sixth Street remains a vibrant center for business and pleasure. Austin’s Visitor Information Center conducts a guided 90-minute walking tour of this district along with the Congress Avenue Historic District. The tour meets at the south entrance of the State Capitol at 9am Thursday-Saturday and 2pm Sunday and requires a 48-hour advance reservation at 866-GO-AUSTIN or 512-478-0098. The walking tour brochure with detailed information and photographs is available at http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/plan_your_trip/historic_walking_tours/.
Rainey Street Historic District 70 to 97 Rainey Street 12 acres, 21 buildings Half a mile south of the Hilton Hotel is the small Rainey Street neighborhood containing 21 historic houses built between 1885 and 1937 in vernacular Victorian, Pyramidal, and Bungalow/Craftsman styles. Platted as the Driskill & Rainey Subdivision in the mid-1880s, the neighborhood is close to the shore of Lady Bird Lake and lies one block west of Interstate 35, formerly the much more sedate East Avenue. Like other nearby historic neighborhoods to the south and east, the Rainey Street area was originally populated by local business and trades people of modest income. Its proximity to downtown has made property values and taxes soar and may make redevelopment of the area inevitable.
Oakwood Cemetery and Annex 16th and Navasota Streets 40 acres, 1 building, 2 structures 1601 Comal (annex) 18 acres, 1 building, 3 structures, 1900-1974
Oakwood is Austin’s oldest cemetery, provided for at the city’s founding in 1839 and used since at least the mid-1850s. An annex was opened to the east of the grounds in 1917. Over 23,000 people are interred here, among whom are several 19th and early 20th century Texas governors and other politicians, military officers and soldiers, and other Austin citizens, prominent and obscure. Sections of the cemetery were reserved for African American, Latino, and Jewish burials, as well as paupers. The grave markers and statuary, and trees and grounds, though showing less than ideal care and maintenance, provide a beautiful setting for a stroll. Oakwood is a little over a mile to the northeast of the Hilton Hotel. Austin’s Visitor Information Center has produced a walking tour booklet for the district with detailed information on the history of the cemetery.
Swedish Hill Historic District 900 to 1000 blocks of E. 14th Street and 900 block of E. 15th Street 4 acres, 10 buildings
One mile northeast of the Hilton Hotel, Swedish Hill (Svenska Kullen) consists of ten houses constructed between about 1880 and 1938 in the vernacular architectural styles popular during that period, including Late Victorian, Bungalow, Cumberland, Pyramidal, and Eastlake/Craftsman. Established as a Swedish community of downtown business and trades people beginning in the 1870s, Swede Hill, as it was also called, once occupied a much larger area between Waller and Red River Streets, and 15th to 19th Streets. The first Swedish Methodist church in Texas was built at 15th and Red River Streets. Swedish Methodists founded Texas Wesleyan College at 26th and Red River Streets. As with the Clarksville and Willow-Spence Street Districts, construction of a major highway, in this case Interstate 35, cutting through the middle of the neighborhood removed many homes and divided what had been a cohesive community.
Willow-Spence Streets Historic District Portions of Willow, Spence, Canterbury, San Marcos, and Waller Streets 18 acres, 38 buildings
One half mile to the southeast of the Hilton Hotel is this historic neighborhood of early-20th century homes and a few churches and commercial buildings. The houses are in Late Victorian and Bungalow/Craftsman styles, and one church, El Buen Pastor, is Mission Revival. Pecan and oak trees provide shade and beauty to the yards and streets. Originally inhabited by European working-class immigrants, by the 1930s a significant Mexican American population was established in this district. Once East Avenue had been transformed into Interstate 35, the area experienced the civic neglect typically shown to East Austin. Appreciation for the historic homes and inclusion in the area neighborhood plan is helping to keep the district’s unique character intact.
Little Campus / Asylum for the Blind 18th to 19th Streets, Oldham to Red River Streets 7 acres, 6 buildings
At the eastern edge of the campus of the University of Texas at Austin is Little Campus, a group of Italianate brick and limestone buildings now owned by the university. The Arno Nowotny Building was originally the Austin Asylum for the Blind, designed by noted local architect Abner H. Cook and built about 1856. It also served briefly as headquarters for General George Armstrong Custer after the Civil War. Standing just to the west is John W. Hargis Hall with its eye-catching clock tower. Little Campus has been renamed the Heman Sweatt Campus, to honor the African American civil rights activist who fought for and won the right to attend the UT School of Law in 1950.
Hyde Park Historic District Avenue A to Duval Street, 40th to 45th Streets 138.5 acres, 277 buildings, 3 structures
Austin’s booming growth near the turn of the 20th century required that additional neighborhoods be built. This 32-block section of land north of the University of Texas campus was promoted and developed by Monroe Shipe beginning in 1891, and named after London’s Hyde Park. Though at first planned as a suburb for the affluent, it soon welcomed middle and working class residents. Electric streetcars linked the neighborhood with downtown and the rest of the city. The eclectic architectural styles include the predominant Bungalow, but Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, and other vernacular styles are also present. The home and studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney is in this district (see Museum listings.) One of the city’s Moonlight Towers is at 41st Street and Speedway. Austin’s Visitor Information Center walking tour booklet for the district is unfortunately no longer available.
Shadow Lawn Historic District Avenue G to Duval Street, 38th to 39th Streets 8 acres, 24 buildings, 1 object
Shadow Lawn is a subdivision of Hyde Park platted in 1922 by Monroe Shipe, Hyde Park’s planner and promoter, immediately east of his own house at 3816 Avenue G. Concrete markers are at the entrance at Avenue G and H at E. 39th Street. Shadow Lawn is included in the walking tour booklet for Hyde Park Historic District.
Perry Estate – St. Mary’s Academy Historic District 701 E. 41st Street 9.9 acres, 7 buildings, 5 structures
Near the southeast corner of the Hyde Park Historic District is a piece of land bisected by Waller Creek, where the Perry Mansion and buildings once belonging to St. Mary’s Academy are located. The Perry Mansion is an Italian Renaissance style house completed in 1928 and still in excellent condition. The mansion now houses the Sri Atmananda Memorial School, a K-12 private school based on ancient Indian tradition. Edgar Howard Perry was a prominent Austin businessman and philanthropist involved in the development of downtown and the city’s suburbs. Among other projects, he constructed the Commodore Perry Hotel and the Perry-Brooks Building, both at the intersection of 8th and Brazos. St. Mary’s Academy was the first parochial school in Austin and considered the most preeminent one in Central Texas, in operation from 1885 to 1968. When it relocated to the Perry Estate in 1947, several additional structures were constructed, including a convent, chapel, and classroom buildings. Original Perry Estate buildings include a garage apartment, lodge, greenhouse, and bowling alley. The estate grounds had formal gardens, fountains, and perimeter walls that still remain.
Old West Austin Historic District W. 13th to 35th Streets, Lamar Boulevard to MoPac Expressway 646 acres, 1589 buildings, 4 structures, 1 object
Covering approximately 106 blocks, Old West Austin consists of the suburbs of Enfield, Pemberton Heights, and Bryker Woods. A large portion of the land was originally the Woodlawn plantation, owned by 1850s Texas Governor Elisha M. Pease and the site of the Greek Revival Woodlawn Mansion (6 Niles Road), on the National Register of Historic Places. In the early to mid-20th century, suburban development grew from the southern border of the area northward, joining a few 19th century residences already established. Pease Park forms the eastern boundary, donated to the city by the Pease family. The area is an example of the City Beautiful Movement, with planned parks and careful arrangement of zoned areas and roadways. A mix of architectural styles include a predominance of Tudor and Colonial Revival along with Classical Revival, Spanish influences, Craftsman, Prairie School, and Moderne and International styles. Austin’s Visitor Information Center has produced a walking and driving tour booklet for the district with detailed information on the history of these structures and the people who built and lived in them.
Clarksville Historic District West Lynn, Waterston, W. 10th Street, MoPac Expressway 30.5 acres, 96 buildings
Two miles west of downtown Austin is Clarksville, begun in the 1870s as a freedmen’s community on land that previously housed slaves of Texas Governor Elisha M. Pease. Its religious center was Sweet Home Baptist Church, with Rev. Jacob Fontaine serving as the first minister (see the Museum listings for the Jacob Fontaine Religious Museum in East Austin.) The Haskell House also still stands and has been restored. Businesses and a one-room school served the community. By 1918 Austin began to pressure the African American community to move to East Austin, designated by the city for its black population, in order to open the Clarksville area to white residential and commercial development as downtown grew toward it. Clarksville residents resisted, and it was not until the 1970s with the construction of MoPac Expressway, which cut through the community, that some were forced to relocate or chose to leave in large numbers. The Clarksville Community Development Corporation works to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood with its Bungalow/Craftsman and Late Victorian houses, and to help lower-income families continue to live there. A Clarksville walking tour brochure may be available this summer.
Deep Eddy Pool (Bathing Beach) 301 Quarry Street 9 acres, 1 building, 1 structure
Deep Eddy Pool is reputedly the oldest man-made, open-air swimming pool in Texas, opened in 1916 and now operated by the City of Austin. The pool began in 1902 as a swimming hole in the Colorado River called Deep Eddy Bathing Beach and became a resort in the 1920s, featuring cabins, camping, concessions, a playground, outdoor movies, and water acts including Lorena and her Diving Horse. Ruined after a flood, the bathhouse was rebuilt during the Depression by the Works Progress Administration. The bathhouse is now closed to the public, but a restoration project is planned. The pool is fed with clear, cold water (68 to 72°F) from a hand-dug 35-foot well. Deep Eddy (its official though seldom used name is Eilers Park) is open to the public for recreational swimming 10am-9pm every day in August, adults $3, children $1.
Camp Mabry Historic District 2210 W. 35th St. 220 acres, 30 buildings, 12 structures
Camp Mabry, about four miles northwest of downtown Austin, was established in 1892 as a summer encampment of the Texas Volunteer Guard and named for Texas Adjutant General Woodford H. Mabry. It is the third oldest active military installation in the state and home of the 36th Infantry Division. The entire camp, of which the historic district is a part, covers over 375 acres and also houses the Texas National Guard Academy, the Texas Air National Guard headquarters, the Texas State Guard, and the Headquarters Armory of the Forty-ninth Armored Division. Training grounds for the Texas Department of Public Safety (originally the State Highway Patrol) and the Texas Rangers were at the camp until 1953. In an historic building at the camp is the Texas Military Forces Museum (see Museum listings), which explores the history of the state’s military forces from the formation of the first militia muster in Stephen F. Austin’s colony in 1823 through the present. The museum displays dozens of military vehicles as well as uniforms, weapons, equipment, and photographs. Special exhibits include the Texas Air National Guard, Armor Row, the Lost Battalion, POW’s and the 36th Infantry Division in World War I and II.
Laguna Gloria 3809 W. 35th Street 18 acres, 2 buildings, 3 structures, 6 objects
Overlooking Lake Austin, Laguna Gloria is a restored 1916 Italianate-style villa, formerly the home of philanthropist and businesswoman Clara Driscoll (1881-1945), who among other endeavors bought the property on which the Alamo is sited in San Antonio in 1904, on behalf of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, to save it from redevelopment. In 1943 Driscoll gave Laguna Gloria and its property to the Texas Fine Arts Association to be used as an art museum. The Austin Museum of Art had its first home here and still operates the villa as a museum with exhibit spaces (see Museum listings.) Immediately adjacent to the villa’s beautifully gardened 12 acres of grounds is Mayfield Park, with cottage gardens, palm trees, lily ponds, peacocks, and 21 additional acres of nature preserve and walking trails. Mount Bonnell towers overhead at 775 feet and has a popular picnic and overlook area at the top of its 99 steps.
Zilker Park Historic District 2100 Barton Springs Road 350 acres, 7 buildings, 6 structures, 4 objects
Zilker Park is a 351-acre greenspace on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake featuring botanical gardens (http://www.zilkergarden.org/, free to the public), a nature and science center (see Museum listings), a miniature train, and Barton Springs Pool. The park is named for Andrew Jackson Zilker, who earned his fortune in the ice business and gave the property for the park to the city. At a fairly constant 68°F and fed from the fourth-largest natural springs in the state, Barton Springs Pool is popular in summer but swimmers use the three-acre pool year-round. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children 12-17, and $1 for children 11 and under and seniors. There is a $3 parking fee at Zilker Park from March to September.
Barton Springs Archeological and Historical District 2100 Barton Springs Road 15 acres, 1 building, 1 structure
The district is located in Zilker Park on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake west of Lamar Boulevard. Read about the archeology project at Barton Springs to uncover Texas pre-history at http://archeologyatzilker.com/. The archeological site has buried items representing the Late Paleo-Indian through Historic periods, 8999 BC to 949. The website includes an overview of the project’s background, a photo gallery, and public participation opportunities. The project’s public information booth is open every day from 9am-5pm, with staff to answer questions. If you’re interested in a short tour or in screening dirt from the site to search for artifacts, email for a time slot at paleodigger@gmail.com.