

Here are nine questions that relate to Austin's streets. Not all of the answers appeared in this exhibit, so if you get them all correct, you really are an expert at Austin trivia. The answers appear at the bottom of this page. 1. Give or take a few feet, what is the width of the downtown portion of Congress Avenue (which has remained virtually the same since 1839)?



2. Before it was widened in 1941, the stretch of road between 6th and 12th Streets currently known as Lamar Boulevard was known by another name. What was it?



3. Just as 6th Street was previously named Pecan Street, so too was 4th Street named after a common Texas tree. Can you name it?



4. What scenic avenue was eventually replaced by IH-35 in the mid-1950s? (Hint: It ran along the east side of the city.)



5. In the early days of electricity (1894-1895), 31 moonlight towers were erected at strategic points along Austin's streets to bathe the city at night in a "perpetual nighttime moonglow." Do you know how many are standing today?



6. What was the previous name of Lake Austin Boulevard?



7. The log cabin which served as Austin's capitol building in the early years (until the limestone capitol was built in 1853) was situated, not at the head of Congress Avenue, but elsewhere. Where was this original location?



8. In 1839, after the site at Waterloo was selected for the new capital city, who did Mirabeau Lamar commission to survey the site, lay out the streets, and oversee the building of the city?



9. During the Depression years, what ambitious Austin mayor regularly secured federal funds from the New Deal's Public Works Administration to finance a series of paving and renovation projects for Austin streets?



Answers

1. 120 feet 2. Ruiz Street 3. Cedar Street 4. East Avenue 5. Seventeen 6. Dam Blvd. 7. Hickory (8th) and Colorado 8. Edwin Waller 9. Mayor Tom Miller



