Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
historical marker
Congress Avenue, located in Austin, Travis County, Texas, is recognized by a historical marker erected in 1989 by the Texas Historical Commission. This thoroughfare was established in 1839 as part of Edwin Waller's original plan for Austin, the new capital city. Waller, Austin's first mayor, designed it as the city's central street, a 120-foot-wide boulevard leading to the Texas State Capitol. For its first 70 years, it was known simply as "The Avenue." By the late 1840s, Congress Avenue had developed into a well-established business district. Gaslight illumination and mule-drawn streetcars were introduced in the mid-1870s. The road was paved with bricks starting in 1905, and trolley cars operated until 1940. Before Interstate 35 was completed in the 1960s, Congress Avenue served as the primary road to reach Austin from the south. In 1979, Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez Street to the Capitol was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The view of the Capitol from the avenue is protected by regulations enacted in 1983. Congress Avenue remains a central historical and cultural corridor in Austin.