Comanche and Tonkawa peoples lived across this stretch of Central Texas long before any town. In the late 1830s a small settlement on the Colorado River called Waterloo caught the eye of the young Republic of Texas, and in 1839 it was renamed Austin — for Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" — and chosen as the capital of the independent republic. Surveyors laid a grid above the river, its streets named for Texas rivers and trees, and a frontier village became the seat of a nation.
Our Austin logo carries the Texas longhorn and the Lone Star over "Texas Republic · Est. 1845" — 1845 the year Texas joined the Union as the Lone Star State. The longhorn's sweeping horns stand for Texas frontier grit, and the single star for the independence that gave the Lone Star State its name. Printed in a distressed black-and-white that reads like old stockyard and state-fair signage, it's the Lone Star in shorthand. What makes this one Austin is the country behind it — the capital on the Colorado, the Hill Country springs, and the city of the violet crown.
Why People Visit Austin
Austin balances Texas-capital history with easygoing Hill Country life — spring-fed swimming, river trails, big landmarks, and a deep live-music heritage. It's a relaxed, walkable base for Central Texas and the Hill Country.
