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History · Austin

Austin dates to 1847

Below: maps from 1939 on.

1847founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Quick answers

How Austin began

When was Austin founded?

1847

Austin dates its founding to 1847 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1850.

2020 census: 51179 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓

What stands out about Austin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Austin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1847: 179 years of Austin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Austin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Austin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Timeline

Austin, 1847 to 1939

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847
    FoundingAustin is established
  3. 1850Post officeThe Austin post office opens
  4. 1874Born hereSport McAllister is born here
  5. 1896Born hereWilliam Herschel Bobo is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1915Post officeThe Austin post office closes
  8. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Austin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Austin.

Read it all →

Austin was founded in 1847 and named for Austin Miller, who donated the land on which the town and a courthouse were built.

Austin was burned in 1863 by Union soldiers of the Mississippi Marine Brigade under the command of Alfred W. Ellet. Two houses were spared.

The town rebuilt and was incorporated in 1871, though it is no longer incorporated.

In 1884, the area was flooded when a nearby levee broke. When waters receded, a large sandbar had been left between the town and the Mississippi River, and steamboats could no longer land. The completion of the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Austin in the late 1880s further contributed to its isolation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Austin on the map, 1939 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Austin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Austin on the 1939 USGS mapAustin on the 1955 USGS mapAustin on the 1975 USGS mapAustin on the 1981 USGS map1939Clayton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Austin.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Austin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Sport McAllisterAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1874
W
William Herschel BoboBaseball player · b. 1896
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Austin had its own post office from 1850 to 1915.

Austin
1850–1915
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Austin’s history

What year was Austin founded?

In 1847, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Austin’s post office opened in 1850.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.