A Quick Story of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas, became an official community in 1839, but was known as Waterloo prior to the name of Austin. In the early 1830s Anglo-Americans arrived in central Texas and settled along the banks of the Colorado River. In 1839, when Texas was searching for a centrally located capital; Waterloo was renamed Austin, Texas, in honor of Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836). Stephen F. Austin was affectionately known as “The Father of Texas.”
Stephen F. Austin was born in the mining regions of southwest Virginia in what is now known as Austinville, also named after him. In the state of Texas, Stephen F. Austin along with Sam Houston are revered as the two most heroic and influential men in the history of Texas. The state office building is named after Austin, as are both Austin, Texas, and Austin County, Texas. Along with communities bearing the Austin name in Texas, there is the Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, and Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Several grade and high schools are also named after Austin. So that’s how Austin Indiana got its name in 1853, after Austin, Texas, which originally was named after Stephen F. Austin, “The Father of Texas.”