Austin, the current capital of Texas, used to be the capital of the Republic of Texas many years ago. In fact, before that even, it was named Waterloo. In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar, who was the 2nd president of the Republic of Texas, put in a nomination declaring what was then known as Waterloo as the capital location for the Republic of Texas. Though many people did not agree with his idea, it ended up becoming so. In March of 1839 Lamar went on to rename the capital city of Waterloo to Austin, in recognition of early settler Stephen F. Austin. It was said that Stephen Austin was the one who discussed terms with the Native Americans regarding boundaries for Texas.

After Austin became the capital city, it continued to thrive. By the first month of 1894 it had a population of around 840 residents. There was 40 acres of land set aside for a university in downtown Austin, which down the line in 1883 housed the University of Texas at Austin.

Times were not always easy for Austin. There was a period when Sam Houston, Lamar’s political rival, tried to withdraw Austin as the capital city. After Houston became president in 1841 he tried to have Houston become the capital. So many residents could not endure the fighting and ended up leaving. The population dwindled down to about 200, everyone wondering what would be the fate Austin. This rough time of fighting was known as the Texas Archive War.

Luckily by 1842, the archives were returned to Austin and it remained the capital from here on. By 1845 Texas was admitted to the union, and by 1888 the completion of the state capitol was built in the original location planned back in 1839.

After everything Austin went through, it did nothing else but besides to flourish. Today Austin lives up to its official motto of being “The Live Music Capital of the World”.The information doesn’t stop now. Keep looking: Three Forks Families Blog at WordPress – Bird’s Fort