Getting To Know The City Of Austin

Those who live in Austin are able to regularly enjoy the exciting music scene, the ample educational opportunities and the strong economy that the city has to offer. Still, many do not know much about the capital city's history and how it got to be the city that we know and love today. Here is a look at a few interesting historical facts that have helped shape Austin into the great city it has become.

*St. Edward's University, which was known as St. Edward's Academy at the time, was founded by Rev. Edward Sorin in 1878. Rev. Sorin was the Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

*The city schools held their first public classes in September 1881.

*Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute, which ultimately became Huston-Tillotson University, opened to the public in 1881.

*Construction on The University of Texas at Austin began in 1882. The university formally opened in 1883.

*The first recorded serial killer in the history of the United States, the Servant Girl Annihilator, terrorized the city of Austin from 1884 to 1885.

*The Driskill Hotel opened on December 20, 1886, making it the city's first premier hotel.

*Construction on the Texas State Capitol was finished in 1888, making it the "seventh largest building in the world" at the time.

*Hyde Park, which was developed a streetcar suburb of The University of Texas, in 1891.

*The Great Granite Dam on the Colorado River, which provided hydroelectric power while also stabilizing the flow of the river, was finished in 1893. The dam brook in 1900, flooding downtown Austin and leveling numerous homes. Two attempts were made to rebuild the dam before the Tom Miller Dam was finished upriver in the 1940s.

*Congress Avenue Bridge, which spanned across the Colorado River, was opened in 1910. This led to development along South Congress Avenue and ultimately led to the first skyscrapers in the city.

*After the streetcar line was expanded into South Austin in 1911, Travis Heights was developed in 1913.

*The first think tanks and research labs were built in Austin in the 1950s.

*University of Texas student Charles Whitman killed his wife and mother before engaging in a 90 minute shooting spree from atop the UT Tower on August 1, 1966. Whitman, who was a former Marine, killed or fatally wounded 14 people before the police managed to shoot him dead.

*Austin became a hot spot for country and western songwriters and musicians in the 1970s. The Armadillo World Headquarters became a popular venue for anti-establishment musicians as well as those who were more mainstream. This ultimately led to the city's motto of "The Live Music Capital of the World."

During the 1970s and 1980s, the city of Austin experienced significant growth. While the Savings and Loans crisis from the late 1980s did cause a bit of a hiccup in this growth, the city has continued to grow and to establish itself as one of the country's most important technological centers.