|
From 1836 to 1839 the government of the nascent
Republic of Texas met in temporary quarters first at
Washington-on-the-Brazos, then in Columbia, and then in the new town of
Houston. In April 1839, Edwin Waller arrived in the little town of
Waterloo with the charge to turn it into Austin, the capital city of the
Republic, by October. His plan for the city centered on a 26-acre
hilltop site called Capitol Square where the capitol building is today.
Because time was short, the first capitol, one of the few buildings in
town, was built of pine on another hilltop west of Congress Avenue. The
first Austin session of the Congress of the Texas Republic met there in
November. The building also served as a community center and fort.
|
