TexasFreeway

Preserving the travel history of Texas.

AUSTIN / THE MAP ARCHIVE

Austin in 1872, right after the railroad arrived

This 1872 map catches Austin at a useful moment: still compact enough to read block by block, but newly connected to the railroad. The city is drawn around Capitol Square, creeks, the Colorado River and public institutions, with the landscape still pressing close to the street grid.

Explore the map

THE MAP AT A GLANCE

A closer look
at 1872.

Dates, details and the people behind the drawing.

Map Date
1872

TSLAC lists the map date as 1872; the cartographer line gives May 1872.

Cartographer
Reuben W. Ford

The original page and TSLAC record identify Ford as the cartographer.

Scale
1 inch = 500 feet

TSLAC gives the scale for this plat.

Map Type
Plat

TSLAC classifies the map as a plat showing streets, blocks, rivers, creeks, hilly areas, public buildings and railroads.

Now explore Austin in 1872Zoom in to find streets, landmarks and familiar places.
EXPLORE THE DETAILS

1872 · Austin

A Topographical Map of the City of Austin, 1872; features described in Look closer below
Open the complete map image

The complete map is also available as a single image.

Courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Open full-size map image (opens in a new tab) ↗2,432 × 3,375 pixels · JPG · 3.6 MB

LOOK CLOSER / EDITORIAL NOTES

Find it on the map.

  1. Capitol Square Anchors the Grid

    Capitol Square sits near the middle of the map, with Department and State streets nearby. The surrounding blocks are numbered and subdivided, making the civic center easy to locate inside the street grid.

  2. Creeks Interrupt the Plan

    Shoal Creek marks the west side and Waller Creek bends through the east side before reaching the Colorado River. The straight blocks stop and restart around those creek corridors.

  3. A Railroad Edge

    The railroad and freight depot appear at the east edge of town. That placement matters because the Houston and Texas Central had reached Austin only months before Ford dated the map.

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AUSTIN / HISTORICAL CONTEXT

A capital city at the end of the line

Reuben W. Ford dated this map May 1872, less than half a year after the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached Austin on December 25, 1871. The Texas State Historical Association describes that arrival as making Austin the westernmost rail terminus in Texas and helping turn the capital into a trading center for a broad surrounding area.

That timing makes the east-side railroad detail more than a stray line on the page. The map still emphasizes the older civic order, Capitol Square, named streets, public squares, churches and institutions, but the rail connection is now drawn into the city's edge. You can see Austin being measured as both a seat of government and a place expecting more movement through town.

For a reader using the map today, the useful comparison is scale. The core city fits inside a tight grid between the creeks and the river, while the railroad at the edge points to the new reach Austin had just gained.

PRESERVED FROM THE HISTORICAL WEBSITE

A Topographical Map of the City of Austin, 1872

Created 09-July-2004

Publisher: De Cordorva, P., Texas Land Agency, Austin, Texas. Lithographed by George W. Averell, New York.

Cartographer: Ford, Reuben W., May 1872

Shows rivers, creeks, hilly areas, streets by name, lots and blocks by number, churches, state and public buildings, and railroads.

Courtesy of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Sources & further reading

New editorial notes accompany the preserved archive description. The viewer uses the original map tiles; the full-size JPG assembles those tiles into one image.