Top 10 Historical Facts/Trivia about Austin
Austin is living history! Tons of spots around Austin testify to its rich history and unique mark on the Southwest. Read on to discover some of Austin’s most eerie contributions to history, its fun facts, and its oddities which help it conform to its slogan “Keep Austin Weird!”
- Moonlight Towers
- Bats under Congress Bridge
- Top Freedom
- Sports?
- Fire
- Taller than Yours
- Texas Rangers
- Servant Girl Annihilator
- Waterloo
- Hollywood
Austin is the only city in the world to still operate fully functional Moonlight Towers – which were designed in the 1880s as city block lighting to deter a serial killer (see #8 on this list to learn more about the “Servant Girl Annihilator). These massive high-tech structures were abandoned in favor of incandescent lighting – in every city except Austin! Austin has 17 of the original 31 towers left, and recently renovated the towers – down to the last bolt – in a $1.3 million restoration project. Fun fact: the Moonlight Towers were featured in the movie Dazed and Confused.
Austin is home to North America’s largest urban bat colony! Austin’s 1.5 million Mexican, free-tail bats fly out from under their concrete home every dusk March to November. Be one of hundreds who flock to Congress Bridge to witness this eerie flight! Seg City offers tours of the bats from the comfort of your own segway. Capital Cruises offers tours of the bats on beautiful Town Lake. For more about Seg City view their website at: http://www.segcity.com/. For Capital Cruises see: http://www.capitalcruises.com/.
Austin is the only major city in Texas that does not have a law against women going topless in public. The original ordinance was struck from the books in the 70s by the Austin City Council who desired gender equality.
Austin is the largest U.S. city without stock in a professional sports league – even though they boast one of the state’s largest sports auditoriums! Most Austinites support the University of Texas Longhorns in lieu of a pro team.
Austin’s legislative buildings have come under a curse of bad luck: fires have destroyed more than one official building! The Austin Capitol Building was originally built in 1853 out of limestone. A fire destroyed the building completely and the current granite version was erected in 1888. In 2008, the Governor’s Mansion went up in a blaze. Arson is suspected to be the culprit. Fun fact: The Governor’s Mansion was home to George W. Bush and family for five years – among other famous Texan politicians.
Texans like to boast that their capitol building is taller than the nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C. At 302 feet high, the Austin Capitol Building rises 14 ½ feet taller than its Washington counterpart. The Texas capitol is also the largest state capitol building in America.
The “father of Texas” – Steven F. Austin – called for men to “range” Texas in 1823. The Texas Ranger headquarters was located in Austin, Texas. The Texas Rangers were responsible for tracking down and bringing many famous outlaws to justice, including: Bonnie and Clyde, bank robber Sam Bass, and legendary murderer John Wesley Hardin.
3 years before Jack the Ripper’s notorious crime spree in London in 1888; an Austin serial killer began murdering black servant girls. The largely white population was disturbed but not concerned until the killer mutilated two white women on Christmas Eve within an hour of each other. The famous Moonlight Towers were built to light the city blocks in hopes of deterring the serial killer. Because of the killer’s ferocity – Austinites deemed him supernatural. He was never caught.
The area later known as Austin was settled in 1830 on the banks of the Colorado River. The first settlers named it Waterloo – however – the village was renamed by Steven F. Austin – the “father of Texas.”
Austin has been the location of many famous Hollywood films including: Dazed and Confused, Spy Kids, Office Space, Hope Floats, The Alamo, Secondhand Lions, and Miss Congeniality. A music video for the band The Flaming Lips and production of Sin City also took place in Austin Studios.