Congress Avenue Historic District
Congress Avenue Historic District | |
 Downtown Austin and theState Capitolas seen from Congress Avenue. | |
 | |
| Location | Congress Ave. from 1st to 11th Sts.,Austin, Texas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°16′4″N97°44′33″W/ 30.26778°N 97.74250°W |
| Area | 38.3 acres (15.5 ha) |
| Built | 1839 |
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Skyscraper |
| NRHP referenceNo. | 78002989[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 11, 1978 |
Congress Avenueis a major thoroughfare inAustin, Texas.The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes overLady Bird Lakeleading to theTexas State Capitolin the heart of Downtown.
Congress Avenue south of Lady Bird Lake is known asSouth Congress,often abbreviated to SoCo,[2]and is an increasingly popular shopping and rental district. It passes the historicTravis Heightsneighborhood, theTexas School for the Deaf,andSt. Edward's Universityas it passes south out of town.
History[edit]
The original 1839Waller Planfor the city designed Congress Avenue to be Austin's central and most prominent street, and named in honor of theRepublic-eraCongress.Early structures along Congress Avenue included government buildings, hotels, saloons, retail stores and restaurants. By the late 1840s after statehood, "The Avenue" formed a well-established business district. The mid-1870s introducedgaslightillumination and mule-drivenstreetcarsas well as construction of a newTravis Countycourthouse at Eleventh Street. The present Texas Capitol at the north end of Congress Avenue was built in 1888. The original dirt street was bricked in 1910.Trolley carsoperated on the Avenue until 1940.
BeforeInterstate 35was completed in the 1960s, Congress Avenue was the primary road to reach Austin from the south. Certain landmarks such as theAustin Motelidentify the road as a major thoroughfare for travellers through the mid-20th century.
Route description[edit]
Congress Avenue begins at an intersection with Slaughter Lane nearInterstate 35.It heads to the north-northeast, diverging away from I-35. This portion of Congress from Slaughter Lane north to the Williamson Creek bridge is maintained by theTexas Department of Transportationand carries theLoop 275designation. After the intersection with Stassney Lane, the road heads to the northeast, now parallel to I-35. Congress Avenue passes over theUS 290/SH 71freeway (locally called Ben White Boulevard) as it travels to the northeast. Continuing to the northeast, it passes bySt. Edward's Universityand goes through the namesakeSouth Congressdistrict before crossing overLady Bird Lake(Colorado River) by way of theAnn W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.The street continues northeast through downtown Austin to 11th Street at theTexas State Capitol.At the Capitol, it splits into a one-way pair, with the northbound lanes going around the east side of the Capitol, and the southbound lanes going around the west side. (This portion of Congress between 11th and 15th Streets has been permanently closed to auto traffic since 2001.) The street merges back to a 2-way street northeast of the Capitol and continues heading to the northeast. It continues for several more blocks before coming to an end at theUniversity of Texas at Austincampus at Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard.[3]
Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge[edit]
The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge overLady Bird Lakehouses the world's largest urbanbatpopulation. When the bridge was refurbished in the 1980s, the new design created crevices underneath the structure that happened to be ideal for bats to roost in. In the summer, the colony has up to 1.5 millionMexican Free-tailed Bats.The bats can be seen emerging by the thousands from under the bridge every evening throughout the summer, before they eventually migrate toMexicofor the winter.[4]
Recognition[edit]
In recognition of its architectural and historical significance, Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez Street (formerly First Street) to the Capitol was listed in theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1979. The Capitol forms aterminating vistaat the north end of Congress; this view became one of theCapitol View Corridorsprotected under state and local law from obstruction by tall buildings in 1983.[5]
Cesar Chavez Street is the former First Street.[6]
In popular culture[edit]
Congress Avenue is the setting forQuentin Tarantino's 2007 film,Death Proof.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.March 13, 2009.
- ^"SoCo (South Congress) Neighborhood in Austin".Small Planet Guide.Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2011.RetrievedOctober 3,2006.
- ^Overview map of Congress Avenue(Map).Google Maps.RetrievedMarch 12,2008.
- ^"Congress Avenue Bridge".Bat Conservation International.Archived fromthe originalon February 7, 2009.RetrievedFebruary 7,2009.
- ^"Downtown Development and Capitol View Corridors"(PDF).Downtown Austin Commission. June 27, 2007.RetrievedNovember 10,2017– via ICMA.
- ^Hamdan, Nadia (August 24, 2017)."Where Did First Street Go, And Why Isn't South First Parallel To Other Numbered Streets?".KUT.Archivedfrom the original on August 28, 2017.RetrievedAugust 24,2017.
