Waterloo appears across the Colorado River from the grants condemned by eminent domain on this certified copy of an 1838 map that GLO Commissioner Andrew J. Baker declared “the oldest and only Bastrop District Map on file in this office.” [detail] Bartlett Sims, Bastrop District, Austin: Texas General Land Office, 9 March 1838, Map #83006, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

The next step involved the identification of eight existing, contiguous tracts, totaling approximately “five-thirds of leagues of land.” These tracts had all been surveyed in February 1838 by Thomas H. Mays, the Deputy Surveyor of Bastrop County, by virtue of first-class headright certificates granted to immigrants to Texas.[4] The government exercised eminent domain, and a jury of six disinterested parties was convened in Bastrop to set the price per acre for each tract that the original grantees would be compensated. The jury awarded the landowners either $3.00 or $3.50 per acre.[5] Once acquired, this vast tract of land became known as the “Town Tract” or “Government Tract” and totaled over 7700 acres.[6] William Sandusky, a well-known draftsman working in Austin, was contracted to create a map to show this government tract. Sandusky’s rare 1839 map is part of the GLO’s map collection, and a highlight for local Austinites visiting the Archives.

Enlarged portion of original survey map of Travis County, showing the eight original surveys that made up the “Government Tract.” J.L. Woodland, Travis County, Austin, 1936, Map #77438, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

Once the government tract was established, Section 9 of the act establishing Austin called for the appointment of an agent who would hire a surveyor and oversee a survey of 640 acres, which would then be parceled into town lots to be sold via public auction. Edwin Waller was hired to serve as this agent and he, in turn, hired L.J. Pilie and Chas. Schoolfield to lay out the new city and survey these town lots.

This map shows the 640-acre townsite of Austin surveyed into lots, known as the “In-Lots.” L.J. Pilie, Plan of the City of Austin, Austin, 1839, TSLAC Map #926d, Map Collection, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, TX. Reproductions of this map (GLO Map #76204) are available for sale at the GLO courtesy of TSLAC.

The town lots were first offered for sale to the public, via auction, in August of 1839 with the unsold balance offered in November 1839 and then again in January 1840. To help facilitate the sale of lots, as part of the contract with the government, Pilie and Schoolfield produced a map of their work and several copies were delivered to the various Republic agencies involved. The original town lots shown on this map became known as the “In-Lots.”[7]

Sam Houston, months before serving his second term as President of the Republic of Texas, purchased Lot 5 in Block 46. Sale certificate for Sam Houston, 8 February 1841, Austin City Lots 000069, Austin City Lots and Outlots Records, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

The survey and sale of the In-Lots covered only 640 acres of the 7700+ acre government tract. In January of 1840, the Texas Legislature passed another act to subdivide and sell the remaining acreage.[8] Within days of passage, a man named S.C. Wiltse submitted a proposal to do the surveying work required to establish the new lots. His proposal was accepted and Wiltse began work at once to resurvey the original 7700+ acre government tract, including the meanders of the Colorado River.[9] By the end of January with the surveying work already well underway, William Sandusky was again hired to create a map showing these new lots.[10] This map, A Topographic Map of the Tract adjoining the City of Austin, became the preeminent map used in the sale of what would become known as the “Out-Lots.”

This map is a 1931 copy of the original 1840 map, which is in very poor condition, showing the extent of the “Out-Lots.” William H. Sandusky, Topographical Map of the Government Tract adjoining the City of Austin, Austin, 1840 (1931), Map #2178, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

The sale of both the In-Lots and Out-Lots of Austin was overseen by the Treasury, but the General Land Office, as the agency charged with managing Texas public lands, maintained records of these sales and issued the patents to the buyers. These records and patents are available within the Archives of the Texas General Land Office along with the original government tract map drawn by William Sandusky and various clerical copies of the In-Lots and Out-Lots maps.

In an interesting twist that took nearly a century to be fully resolved, in January 1840, as the process of surveying the Out-Lots was underway, GLO Commissioner John P. Borden received an eight-league Mexican title for Thomas J. Chambers, a notable land speculator and lawyer, which had not been previously submitted to his office.[11] Since the title was not filed with the GLO until very late, it was considered vacant and unappropriated land, and the headrights covering the Chambers leagues were patented to other settlers. It was not until 1925 when the Texas Legislature appropriated funds in the amount of $20,000 to compensate the Chambers heirs for settlement of their right, title, interest, and claims against the state.

The records and maps detailing the establishment of the city of Austin have been digitized and are available for research online, and reproductions may be purchased through the online map store, or by contacting Archives staff at archives@glo.texas.gov. A portion of the Austin City Lots and Outlots Records are being conserved thanks to generous donations by the Austin Genealogical Society.