Local History
Austin Historical Markers: Capital City, University Town, and the Colorado River Settlement
Austin’s historical markers document the city Mirabeau Lamar chose in 1839, Edwin Waller built in months, and Angelina Eberly defended with a cannon. Drive Congress Avenue and find it all.
Drive Congress Avenue from the Colorado River up to the pink granite Capitol. You're retracing the exact route Edwin Waller laid out in 1839. RoadHistorical is a Texas historical preservation platform that puts more than 16,000 markers at your fingertips. This article covers the Austin historical markers that document a city built from scratch in under a year.
Congress Avenue: The Street That Built a Capital
In 1839, the Republic of Texas needed a permanent capital. President Mirabeau Lamar’s commission chose a bluff above the Colorado River called Waterloo. Judge Edwin Waller got the job of turning it into a city. He drew a 640-acre grid with Congress Avenue as the central spine, running north from the river straight up to Capitol Square.
Congress Avenue Historical Marker stands at the corner of Congress Avenue and West Cesar Chavez Street in Austin. The inscription reads that Waller “designed Congress Avenue as Austin’s most prominent street” in his original 1839 city plan.
Known for decades as “The Avenue,” the street has been the scene of social, political, patriotic, religious, and military events. Bricks replaced the original dirt surface in 1910. Trolley cars ran here until 1940.
Congress Ave & W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701
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The Man Who Laid Out Austin: Judge Edwin Waller
Edwin Waller wasn’t just a surveyor. He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Then he organized workers, dealt with the summer heat, and built a capital city from scratch before the government arrived.
By October 1839, the entire Texas government traveled by oxcart from Houston to its new home. Waller had done it in under a year.
Judge Edwin Waller Historical Marker stands at 909 Navasota Street in east Austin. The inscription notes that Waller signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, laid out the city plan, and served as Austin’s first elected mayor.
Waller County, west of Houston, carries his name to this day.
909 Navasota St, Austin, TX 78702
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The Archive War: Angelina Eberly Fires Back
In 1842, Austin’s status as capital was under serious threat. Mexican armies had seized San Antonio. President Sam Houston wanted to move the government east. Many residents fled in what people called “The Breakup.”
Then on December 30, 1842, agents sent by Houston started loading the Republic’s archives onto wagons in the middle of the night. Angelina Eberly spotted them from her inn on Congress Avenue. She grabbed the city cannon and fired it down the street. The agents fled. The archives stayed. The capital stayed too.
The Archive War Historical Marker stands at 1201 Brazos Street in Austin.
It’s on the grounds of the Lorenzo de Zavala Archives and Library Building. The inscription describes how Austin became the Republic’s capital in 1839 and how Eberly’s cannon shot ended the secret archive removal of December 1842.
1201 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
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The Great Walk to the Capitol
The promenade from Congress Avenue to the Capitol’s south entrance is called the Great Walk. Workers finished it in 1889, the same year the granite Capitol building was completed. It’s a formal ceremonial space lined with trees and monuments.
Four monuments flank the path. They honor the Heroes of the Alamo (1891), Volunteer Firemen (1896), Confederate Soldiers (1903), and Terry’s Texas Rangers (1907).
The Great Walk Historical Marker is at 1100 Congress Avenue in Austin. Stop here and you’re standing at the intersection of Edwin Waller’s 1839 street grid and nearly 50 years of civic ceremony.
1100 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701
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How RoadHistorical Finds These Markers
RoadHistorical’s Discovery Mode runs in the background while you drive. When you pass within range of a Texas historical marker, your phone notifies you. You don’t have to know the markers are there. The app finds them for you.
The AI Tour Guide answers questions the plaque can’t. Ask who Edwin Waller was before he built Austin, or what happened to Angelina Eberly after the Archive War. Everything works offline, so you don’t need cell coverage to explore.
Start Discovering Texas History Today
RoadHistorical is free to download on the App Store for iPhone. Download it here and turn on Discovery Mode before your next drive. Android users: sign up for early access at roadhistorical.app.