Field Guide: Learn Austin History

When a new mayor came to power, he found what he thought would be a compromise — a way to build housing for all the people coming to Austin without threatening the city’s ecological gems. It turned out to be more complicated than that.

In the 1990s, Austin voters passed landmark protections for parts of Southwest Austin that sit on top of the aquifer that feeds Barton Springs. That set off a chain of events that had a profound effect on how the city would grow in the coming decades.

I-35 is more than a road. It's been sculpting Austin's housing scene for more than 60 years, encouraging endless sprawl and making gridlock a lifestyle.

Indigenous peoples have occupied Central Texas for thousands of years — long before Spanish settlers arrived in the mid-16th century.

In the late 1800s, Austin's elite decided a dam was what was needed to attract more people and industry to the city. But dams weren't cheap. And to get taxpayers to foot the bill, it had to be built for the public good.