Early Austin

Austin was named for Stephen Fuller Austin, often referred to as the Father of Texas.  His father, Moses Austin, received a grant in 1821 from the Spanish to settle 300 acres in Texas.  Moses died before he could fulfill his dream, so his son Stephen traveled to San Antonio, where he met with the Spanish governor Antonio María Martínez, who acknowledged him as his father's successor. Austin quickly found willing colonists, and by the end of the summer of 1824 most of the Old Three Hundred were in Texas.

The city was established by the three-year-old Republic of Texas in 1839 to serve as its permanent capital, and named in honor of its founder, Stephen F. Austin.  A site-selection commission appointed by the Texas Congress in January 1839 chose a site on the western frontier, after viewing it at the instruction of President Mirabeau B. Lamar, a proponent of westward expansion who had visited the sparsely settled area in 1838. Impressed by its beauty, healthfulness, abundant natural resources, promise as an economic hub, and central location in Texas territory, the commission purchased 7,735 acres along the Colorado River.

A man selected by President Lamar was Judge Edwin Waller, a well-respected veteran of the Texas Revolution.  He divided the 640-acre tract into lots and designated a section as the future Capitol Square and another elevated area to the north as College Hill.  By the spring of 1840, government buildings were bustling with activity and businesses were opening to serve the needs of the expanding population.  The first census, taken in 1840, listed a total population of 856 inhabitants.