Texas History

[capcat]

I had posted the following in response to the original quote in another thread. It's more relevant here. Thanks for starting this thread, btw. It was a good idea.

One source to research Texas are the historical records in Galveston. My daughter did some of her research on immigration there, looking through ships' passenger lists. Pretty interesting, I would think.

You'll miss the Texas Folklife Festival this weekend, but maybe next year. Texas Folklife Festival 2009 - Our 38th Anniversary!

There's no denying that Texas has an interesting history.

[CptnRn]

For anyone not familiar with the historic Guy Town district in Austin, you might enjoy reading these links. Guy Town was a legally zoned red light district in downtown Austin from the 1870's to 1913.

::::::::Welcome To The Guytown Project::::::::

City of Austin - History of Guy Town - Austin City Hall

There is a little more sensational accounting of it here.
Features: The Fantastic and Utterly Disreputable History of the Bevy of Sin Known as Guy Town: Before It Was the Warehouse District, It Was the Whorehouse District - The Austin Chronicle

[doctorjef]

And now it's the gay bar district - sort of - so rather aptly named historically.

[CptnRn]

In city documents, it was classified as the First Ward, bordered by the river, Guadalupe, Colorado, and Fifth Street. Everyone else called it Guy Town.

Every since learning of Guy Town I have wondered why no one has over opened a bar there with that name. Great decorating theme with all the old historic photographs.

Since City Hall is located there, some people have suggested that prostitution is still practiced in the area.

[doctorjef]

Well, since the governor's mansion and the capitol are several blocks uptown, it would seem that the centre of prostitution has moved north in recent years.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Well, since the governor's mansion and the capitol are several blocks uptown, it would seem that the centre of prostitution has moved north in recent years.

Although, I assure you from years of personal experience that 301 W. 2nd Street is not lacking in experience.

[txgolfer130]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

In another thread:



I highly recommend "Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans" by T. R. Fehrenbach, it is a very enjoyable, informative and interesting read. Originally published in 1968, it was republished in 2000. It begins with a history of the Amerinds.

Amazon.com: Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans: T.R. Fehrenbach: Books



You might also be interested in this Home

Since Austin was one of the first colonies settled in Texas, it figures greatly in the history of the state, and many of the oldest folk tales are based on events that occured in the Austin area.

Austin, was not one of Texas first colonies, and was not even in Moses Austin's land grant, nor Stephen Austin's modified grant from his father, that was extended by the new independent country of Mexico.

One quick fact that most don't know, is that those "colonists" who were part of Austin's land grant were not "colonists" at all. They were new citizens of Mexico, as they were required to pledge allegiance to Mexico and become Mexican citizens before grants were approved. They were ALL also suppposed to be Catholic and swear and show proof of their faith before the grants were approved. Most of these requirements, were forged by Austin as well as the "colonists", thus in the eyes of the President of Mexico (Santa Ana) making them invaders not settlers. They were also supposed to be Louisianian's as part of Moses Austin's grant which was from the Brazos to the coast. Moses Austin's initial area of interest was in the Baron de Bastrop's territory 30 miles east of what is now Austin, as Moses Austin had a personal relationship w/ the Baron. However, Moses Austin died before he could finalize any deal w/ any settlers, & the Spanish govenor who controlled the area to make the recording of any deeds legal. The Mexican government eventually acknowledged these claims, but w/in months the insurrection of Tejas settlers against Stephen F. Austin's judgement and council started an open violent action against the government.

[doctorjef]

Thanks for that clarification. I didn't think CptnRn's assertion sounded correct, because what became Austin was originally a little hunting camp called Waterloo. Even during the period of the Republic, there was a lot of controversy about what the capital city was to be. It moved back and forth. Originally in Washington-on-the-Brazos, it moved to Houston, where Sam Houston wanted it. Pres. Mirabeau B. Lamar (for whom Lamar Blvd in Austin is named) favoured establishing a westerly capital in what was then named Austin, because he was an expansionist who envisioned a great western "empire" for Texas -- the future would be in the West, not in the settled areas of East Texas. Austin was the frontier, while the original settlements in Southeast Texas were more an extension of the American South.

[CptnRn]

Thank you for correcting me, I was confused about Austin being one of the first colonies. I was aware that the original land grants were from Spain, which were invalid after Mexican Independence.

By late 1825, Austin had brought the first 300 families, now known in Texas history as the Old Three Hundred, to the grant. Austin had obtained further contracts to settle an additional 900 families between 1825 and 1829.

The first documented permanent settlement of current-day Austin occurred in 1835. Anglo American settlers began arriving in the area, when Texas was still part of Mexico. They founded the village of Waterloo in 1837, along the banks of the Colorado River.[4] Edward Burleson laid out the town of Waterloo in the spring of 1838.

In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar, then the third president of the Republic of Texas, nominated the Waterloo site for the capitol location. This nomination was met with much controversy; many, including Sam Houston, felt the remote location would be especially vulnerable to Indian and Mexican raids. However, Lamar prevailed in his nomination, which he felt would be a prime location that intersected the roads to San Antonio and Santa Fe.

I was aware that there had been disagreement on where the state capital should be located. That was an amusing bit of history.

At first, the new capital thrived. But Lamar's political enemy Sam Houston used two Mexican army incursions to San Antonio as an excuse to move the government to Washington-on-the-Brazos. Remaining Austin residents responded to the threat by forcibly keeping the national archives in their city in defiance of President Houston's attempts to bring them to Washington (Texas Archive War).

Texas Archive War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia