Map of the City of Austin, on Tres Palacios Bay, Texas

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IdentifierMaps_256bDatecirca 1837DescriptionThis plan of Austin was one of a great number of urban schemes promoted in Texas in the euphoric months following the victory at San Jacinto. The town was to be located just north of Oystyer Lake, near Palacios, on a small headland jutting into the northeastern corner of Matagorda Bay.

The promoters probably launched their scheme in early 1837, at about the time Matagorda County was established. Place-names provide clues as to the identity of the promoters. One street on the plan is named for New York financier Samuel Swartwout, and "Biddle Square" suggests that Philadelphia money was involved in the project. The site was on land owned by Ralph Wright, about whom little is known.

Austin was to have 178 blocks, each with thirty-two lots. The promoters set aside four additional blocks for a church, a college, and public buildings. There were also four public squares and a "public promenade" running along part of the waterfront. Although the town never developed according to this ambitious plan, some settlement did take place. The site appears on several nineteenth-century maps, including the 1880 General Land Office Map of Matagorda County (see no. 384).

The inset shows a "proposed canal" between the Colorado River and Wilson Creek, with a raft blocking the flow of the river. The canal was completed and the raft removed before 1836, but the raft reappeared periodically. John Grant Tod, among whose papers this map was found, worked on clearing a raft from the Colorado in 1857-60, while he was assistant state engineer for river work. Language NoteEnglishSubjectTexas--MapsCopyright StatementNo Copyright - Non-Commercial Use PermittedSize48x65 centimeters.LithographerMiller Lithograph

CollectionRosenberg Library map collection

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Map of the City of Austin, on Tres Palacios Bay, Texas

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Map of the City of Austin, on Tres Palacios Bay, Texas