Early inhabitants of Central Texas date to between 12,000 to 22,000 years ago as evidenced by the discovery of sites likeLeanderthal Lady ("Leanne") at the Wilson-Leonard site nearLeander, Texas.[2][3]
In downtown Austin, archeological excavations have revealed that the hilltop where theFrench Legation now sits was utilized during theArchaic period (North America), possibly 5,000 years ago. Even earlier artifacts dating to thePaleo-Indians period show that humans may have used the area as early as 9,000 years ago.[5]
Continuous occupation of Travis County continues into the Toyah Phase represented by sites like the Toyah Bluff Site in southeast Travis County along Onion Creek. The Toyah Phase is the last widespread prehistoric pattern prior to the arrival of Europeans.[6]
The region (along with all of modern Texas) was claimed by theSpanish Empire in the 1600s, but at the time no attempt was made to settle the area (or even to explore it fully).[7]
In 1691Domingo Terán de los Ríos was instructed to make a tour of Spanish Texas with the goal of establishing missions among the Tejas (Hasinai), keep records of "geography, natives, and products" and investigate rumors of foreign settlements on the coast (the French). Terán's entrada took them through Travis County crossing the Colorado River near what would later be called theMontopolis ford, which today is part ofEl Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.[8]
In 1709 CaptainPedro de Aguirre led an expedition with FathersAntonio de Olivares andIsidro de Espinosa (Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre Expedition) from San Juan Bautista Mission along the Rio Grande River in Mexico into Travis County hoping to meet with the Tejas Indians (Hasinai). They reached the south bank the Colorado River in or near Austin in April, but found the Tejas were not there. They were however visited by members of a number of Indigenous Peoples: Yojuan (AKAYojuane), Simomo, and Tusonibi. Guides for the Spanish included Indigenous Peoples they had encountered just previously living nearSan Pedro Springs: Chaularame,Payaya, Sana,Sijame, and Siupan. With orders not to cross the Colorado the expedition returned to Mexico.[9][10][11][12]
In 1821Mexico won its independence from Spain, and the new government enactedlaws encouraging colonists to settle the Texas frontier by granting them land and reduced taxation. Over the next decade, thousands of foreign immigrants (primarily from the United States) moved into Texas; in particular, AmericanempresarioStephen F. Austin established one of his colonies, known as Austin's "Little Colony", consisting of 100 families near what is nowBastrop, Texas in 1827.[15][16]Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger,[17][18]Reuben Hornsby (namesake ofHornsby Bend, Travis County, Texas),[19] Jacob M. Harrell,[20]Noah Smithwick,[21][22] and John F. Webber (namesake ofWebberville, Travis County, Texas)[23] were early settlers who moved to the Bastrop area in the early 1830s. Webber and Reubon Hornsby would later move west and form the settlements of Webberville and Hornsby Bend respectively.
In 1836 Texasdeclared andwon its independence from Mexico, forming the Republic of Texas. That same year, 1836, before Austin was founded, Fort Colorado, AKA Fort Coleman, was established in then Bastrop County, later to be Travis County, to secure and expand the Republic of Texas’ control over Native American territory.[24] It was strategically located on the main road to what would later be Austin fromBastrop, Texas,Webberville, Texas andHornsby Bend, Texas, what Barkley called the "Path of the Pioneers", today's Webberville Road, also known as FM 969. It was this path Vice President Lamar would later take to Waterloo in 1838 for the buffalo hunt which eventually led to Austin as the capital of Texas. Lamar stopped at the fort to procure an escort of rangers.[25][22] Fort Colorado was also strategically placed near a trade route utilized by Native Americans since prehistory that the Spanish would later adopt,El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail. The site of Fort Colorado is located on today's Travis Audubon Blair Woods Preserve and is a part of the historic trail.[26]
While there were skirmishes between Anglo-Texans and Native Americans, there were also attempts at peace. In 1837 a band of PenatekaComanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ) approached Fort Colorado to seek a treaty of peace. Texas Ranger and historianNoah Smithwick, stationed at the fort, lived with the Comanche as emissary for many months where he “was made the recipient of every attention known to their code of hospitality”. This is the only known peace treaty initiated from inside Travis County. The treaty was unfortunately never ratified by Texas.[27][22]
Historically recorded tribes in Travis County at this time were Comanche, Lipan Apache, Tonkawa, Waco (a branch of the Wichita), and others.[28][27][29][30][31] Tribes such as the ethnographically well-known Comanche, Lipan Apache, Waco (Wichita branch), and even the Tonkawa migrated into Texas, of which Travis County is a part, just before or during the early European contact period.[32][33][34][35] The expansion of the Spanish into what is now Travis County, establishing missions, traveling El Camino Real de los Tejas, and introducing European diseases, along with the migration of other Native American tribes to the area, particularly the Lipan Apache who in turn were retreating from Comanche expansion, displaced tribes that were indigenous to the area since before European contact, like the Coahuiltecans.[36][37][38]
After Texas Vice PresidentMirabeau B. Lamar visitedcentral Texas during abuffalo-hunting expedition between 1837 and 1838, he proposed that the republic's capital (then located inHouston) be relocated to a site on the north bank of theColorado River. Edward Burleson had surveyed the planned townsite ofWaterloo, near the mouth of Shoal Creek on the Colorado River, in 1838; it was incorporated January 1839. By April of that year the site selection commission had selected Waterloo to be the new capital. A bill previously passed by Congress in May, 1838, specified that any site selected as the new capital would be named Austin, after the late Stephen F. Austin; hence Waterloo upon selection as the capital was renamed Austin.[39]
A new county was also established the following year, of which Austin would be the seat; the county was named Travis County, afterWilliam B. Travis, commander of theAlamo. Travis County was originally a part of Bastrop County; many old land records from the time ofMexican Texas for Travis County were originally filed with the Bastrop County Clerk's Office. Later a number of other counties were carved from the original boundaries of Travis County: Callahan (1858), Coleman (1858), Comal (1846), Gillespie (1848), Hays (1848), Burnet (1852), Brown (1856), Lampasas (1856), Eastland (1858), Runnels (1858), and Taylor (1858).[40][41]
In the years following the battle of San Jacinto in 1836, Mexican leaders periodically threatened to renew hostilities against Texas. March 5, 1842, at the direction ofAntonio López de Santa Anna, a force of 700 men underRáfael Vásquez (general) marched into Texas and seizedSan Antonio. Forewarned of the Mexican advance, most residents had already evacuated allowing Vasquez to enter the town unopposed. Fearing a subsequent attack on Austin (which never came), many residents left Austin and President Houston moved the capital to Houston on March 13, 1842; it was then moved toWashington-on-the-Brazos, Texas September of that same year. It was during this period theTexas Archive War took place. The capital was moved once more, back to Austin, in 1845.[42][43]
In 1861 Travis County was one of the few Texas counties to vote againstsecession from the Union. Since the majority of the state did favor secession, Travis County then became a part of theConfederacy for the duration of theCivil War.
After secession, life became difficult for those in Travis County that continued to support the Union. Governor Sam Houston refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Confederate States of America and was forced to step-down as Governor.[44] Some, like prominent lawyer and businessman, Josiah Fisk, namesake of Fiskville and brother ofGreenleaf Fisk, opted to leave Texas when threatened with conscription.[45][46] Others like former Texas Ranger Richard Lincoln Preece mounted guerilla resistance against the Confederacy from inside Travis County, eventually being forced to leave Texas via Mexico to join the U.S. Army. Barkley describes hangings and attempted hangings in Travis County of persons remaining loyal to the Union.[47][25][48]
During the Civil War a number of forts, or fortifications, were built in Austin anticipating Union attack (which never occurred). One of the better documented of these located on South Congress was Fort Magruder.[49][50]
Among shortages experienced in Travis County during the Civil War was timely news from newspapers. Some newspapermen closed shop and enlisted when the war began. Other newspapers were forced to close due to lack of ink and paper available only through Mexico or the Gulf Coast which was blockaded by Union forces. In Travis County the "State Gazette" (Austin) kept a pony express rider at theBrenham, Texas railhead to bring in Houston papers with news only 18 hours old.[51]
During the Civil War, theTonkawa massacre of 1862 took place on a reservation in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). It was an attack by a number of pro-Union Native American tribes on the Tonkawa who supported the Confederacy; the massacre led to near extermination of the tribe. After the massacre, by the summer of 1863, some Tonkawa began drifting south into Texas, some returning to the Austin area, then a fortified Confederate city.[35][52][53] At the end of the Civil War, Austin was surrendered to the United States and occupied by Union troops. By 1867 the United States ordered the removal of the Tonkawa from Austin. TheIndian Papers document the escorted removal of 135 Tonkawa from Austin toJacksboro, Texas, March 3, 1867 to April 18, 1867, for eventual resettlement on a reservation nearFort Griffin inShackelford County, Texas that same year.[54][55][53]
Following the end of the Civil War Texas opened two facilities in Austin, one intended to care for disabled and indigent Confederate Veterans (men), opened in 1884, and a Confederate women's home for wives and widows of Confederate Veterans opened in 1908. In addition, Texas opened the Confederate section of theTexas State Cemetery to accommodate the burial of both Veterans, and wives and widows of Veterans.[56][57][58]
Reconstruction began with the end of the Civil War lasting from 1865 to 1870. As the capital of Texas, Austin played a central role in administration of Reconstruction policies and programs. U.S. Army troops were stationed in Austin to enforce new laws and protect African Americans.[59]
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, better known as The Freedmen’s Bureau, was administered from Austin helping formerly enslaved people with labor contracts, education, and legal disputes.[60]
During Reconstruction Travis County saw the formation of manyFreedom colonies by enslaved African Americans.[61]
March 30, 1870, President Grant signed the act that readmitted Texas to the Union and ended Reconstruction.
After Reconstruction the first Railroad to enter Travis County was theHouston and Texas Central Railway arriving in Austin December 25th, 1871 making the city the westernmost rail terminus in Texas. With the arrival of the railroad materials like milled lumber became readily available ushering in a building boom and making Austin a trading center. A second railroad soon followed, theInternational–Great Northern, reaching Austin in 1876. Several lumberyards appear on the1887 Birdseye Map of Austin near the rail freight yard.[62][63]
TheUnited States Geological Survey (USGS) was established in 1879. In the early years of the USGS its survey work was hampered by lack of funds and as late as the 1920s nearly 60% of the US was still unmapped.[64] Travis County was fortunate to be one of the first areas mapped producing what is known as the "1902 Austin folio" (surveyed 1895-1896, published 1902). Although referred to as the "Austin quadrangle" it covers all of Travis County. In addition to the map produced, the USGS produced written reports including the "culture" of Travis County at the turn of the 20th Century.[65]
Quoting the USGS: "The Austin quadrangle has a comparatively dense population, but nine-tenths of its inhabitants are found on the Coastal Plain, east of the Balcones scarp, theEdwards Plateau country to the west being but sparsely populated. The densest rural population is found in the White Rock and Taylor prairies and the Colorado bottoms, nearly the entire areas of which are devoted to the cultivation of cotton, with some minor crops. The few people inhabiting the Edwards Plateau are engaged in raising cattle and cutting cedar timber from the hills to supply the city of Austin with fuel. Occasionally farmers cultivate small areas of alluvial soil in the valleys of this district."
Towns cited: "Austin, the capital of the State, occupies both banks of the Colorado near the center of the quadrangle. It is a city of 30,000 inhabitants and contains many handsome public buildings, including the capitol and university. Manor, about 12 miles northeast of Austin, is a prosperous rural village of about 5000 inhabitants.McNeil,Manchaca, andBuda are small towns along the line of the International and Great Northern Railroad. The other towns on the map, such asOak Hill,Watters,Pflugerville, Sprinkle,Bluff Springs,New Sweden, and Fiskville, are small villages with one or more stores and a few houses."
Roads of the time are categorized as "county roads of the first order, which lead from Austin to the neighboring county seats; lanes leading from the main highways to small communities or farms; and country roads, originally made by wood cutters, which meander through the region of the Edwards Plateau ... Three substantial bridges span the Colorado, the westernmost of which is devoted solely to railway traffic, and the others, at Austin andMontopolis, Austin, Texas, to vehicles."
The USGS descriptions concludes with a note that applies to Travis County to this day: "It is interesting to note on the map how the courses of the principal railways and highways are governed by the geologic structure."
1936 was the Centennial of Texas' independence from Mexico. In celebration the Texas Legislature created the Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations.[66][67][68] Of about 600 historical markers erected statewide Travis County received about 50 of the 1936 Centennial markers. Unfortunately most Centennial markers, being a product of their time, focus on the "Anglo Texan" view of the last 100 years overlooking the diverse experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans in Texas.[69][70]
In addition to markers, Travis County celebrated the Centennial by publishingThe Defender 1936, a yearbook of Travis County rural public schools, compiled by the students and staff of the schools represented in the book.The Defender is a valuable primary source for genealogists, researchers, educators and students of Travis County history. The 348-page book contains hundreds of names of students, teachers, principals, trustees, etc. There is history of each school and photos of people and school buildings. Having been out of print since 1936, copies ofThe Defender 1936 are hard to access. Fortunately the book has been scanned and published on-line through the University of North Texas’ Portal to Texas History.[71]The Defender 1936 unfortunately does not include the many African American and Mexican American schools that were in Travis County at that time. The Travis County Engineering Department did however produce road maps in 1932 with names and locations of all these schools.[72]
From the end of the Civil War to the early twenty-first century, Travis County has experienced steady, rapid population growth (averaging more than a 36% increase every decade from 1870 to 2010), driven largely by the growth of Austin and its suburbs; it is now the fifth most populous county in Texas, afterHarris (Houston),Dallas,Tarrant (Fort Worth) andBexar (San Antonio) counties.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,023 square miles (2,650 km2), of which 990 square miles (2,600 km2) is land and 33 square miles (85 km2) (3.2% of the territory) is water.[73] Travis County is located in the southern part ofcentral Texas, betweenSan Antonio andDallas–Fort Worth. The county'sgeographical center lies two miles northwest of downtown Austin at 30°18' north latitude and 97°45' west longitude.[74]
Thelimestone karst geology of the western and southwestern parts of Travis County gives rise to numerouscaverns andsprings, some of which have provided shelter and water for humans in the region for thousands of years. Notable springs in the county includeBarton Springs,Deep Eddy andHamilton Pool.[75]
Other major highways within the county includeState Highway Loop 1 (the "Mopac Expressway"), which runs from north to south through the center of the county, andSH 45, which forms parts of an incompletehighway loop around Austin.SH 130 (constructed as an alternative to I-35 for long-distance traffic wishing to avoid Austin and San Antonio) also runs from north to south through the sparsely populated eastern part of the county.
Travis County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
According to thecensus of 2010, there were 1,024,266 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 1,034 persons per square mile (399 persons/km2). There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 units per square mile (130 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 68.21% White, 9.26% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 4.47% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 14.56% other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. 28.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. English is the sole language spoken at home by 71.42% of the population age 5 or over, while 22.35% speakSpanish, and aChinese language (includingMandarin,Taiwanese, andCantonese) is spoken by 1.05%. As of the 2010 census, there were about 11.1same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.[85]
According to thecensus of 2000, there were 812,280 people, of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.60% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.70% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were composed of individuals, and 4.40% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.15. 12.0% were ofGerman, 7.7%English, 6.6%Irish and 5.5%American ancestry according toCensus 2000[86]
The population's age distribution was 23.80% under the age of 18, 14.70% from 18 to 24, 36.50% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 6.70% age 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.50 males.
Like other Texas counties, Travis County is governed by aCommissioners' Court composed of thecounty judge and four county commissioners. The court levies county taxes and sets the budgets for county officials and agencies. The judge and commissioners are elected for four-year terms (the judge at-large, and the commissioners from geographic precincts). The other major county-wide official is thecounty clerk, who maintains the county's records, administerselections, and oversees legal documentation (such as propertydeeds,marriage licenses andassumed name certificates). The clerk is also elected at-large for a four-year term.
The Travis County Jail and the Travis County Criminal Justice Center are located in downtown Austin.[88][89] The Travis County Correctional Complex is located in an unincorporated area in Travis County, next toAustin-Bergstrom International Airport.[90]
Travis County is one of the most consistently Democratic counties in Texas, having voted for the Democratic presidential nominee all but five times since 1932. The only exceptions have been the Republican landslide years of 1952, 1956, 1972 and 1984, whenDwight Eisenhower,Richard Nixon andRonald Reagan each won over 400 electoral votes, and 2000, when the Republican nominee was incumbent Texas GovernorGeorge W. Bush. In 2005 Travis County was the only county in Texas to vote against theProposition 2 state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, with slightly under 60% of voters being against it.[92]
In 2020, Travis County backed DemocratJoe Biden with nearly 72% of the vote, his strongest showing in the state and the best showing for any presidential candidate in the county since 1948. WhileKamala Harris in 2024 lost some ground since2020, her performance of 68% made Travis County the most Democratic of all Texas counties in that election. This was partly due to the Republican shift in all majority-Hispanic counties in south and west Texas, many of which held this record in the past.[93]
The county's Democratic bent is not limited to the presidential level, as all of the county-level officials are Democrats. The county is home toUT Austin, with Democrats generally doing very well in counties with universities.[94] In addition, the majority of the county is represented by Democrats in theUS Congress,Texas Senate, andTexas House.
All 24 counties in the district vote for justices. Justices serve six year terms in at-large seats with no term limits, besides a mandatory retirement age of 75 years old.[96]
Following the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats flipped the majority on the 3rd Court of Appeals.
Since 2022, all elected 3rd Court of Appeals judges are members of theDemocratic Party.[97]
As of 2017, Travis County had amedian household income of $68,350 per year, and aper capita income of $38,820 per year. 13.9% of the population lived below thepoverty level.[79] The county's largest employers are governments (the State of Texas, the US Federal Government, Travis County and the City of Austin) and public education bodies. Other major employers are concentrated in industries relating tosemiconductors,software engineering andhealthcare.[102]
^Society, Texas Archeological (2003). "The Toyah Bluff Site of Travis County, Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, Volume 74, 2003". Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society.
^Chipman, Donald E. (1992),Spanish Texas, 1519–1821, Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, p. 26,ISBN0-292-77659-4
^McGraw, Joachim et.al. Teran and Mazanet 1691-1692, p.70,A Texas Legacy The Old San Antonio Road And The Caminos Reales: A Tricentennial History, 1691-1991. Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation. Portal of Texas Historyhttps://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1364735/
^Wade, Maria F. and Don E. Wade. Hard Choices: The Apache, the Spaniard, and the Local Native Groups 1700-1755, p. 165, The Native Americans of the Texas Edwards Plateau, 1582-1799. University of Texas Press, 2003
^de la Teja, Jesus F. (1997). "The Colonization and Independence of Texas: A Tejano Perspective". In Rodriguez O., Jaime E.; Vincent, Kathryn (eds.).Myths, Misdeeds, and Misunderstandings: The Roots of Conflict in U.S.–Mexican Relations.Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources Inc. p. 88.ISBN0-8420-2662-2.
^abBarkley, Mary Starr. "Austin, 1861-1870",History of Travis County and Austin, 1839-1899. Waco, Texas, Texian Press, 1963.
^Iruegas, Sergio and Melinda.The Archaeology Of Blair Woods Nature Preserve Historic Fort Colorado. El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association, and GTI Environmental, LLC, 2021. Copies on file with Travis County Archives, Travis Audubon and Austin History Center.
^Wilbarger, John Wesley.Indian depredations in Texas. Hutchings Printing House, Austin, 2nd edition, 1890. See index listing for Travis County for tribes mentioned in Travis County.
^Winfrey, Dorman H. (editor).The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest 1825-1916, Volume 2, p.271, p.291, Texas State Historical Assoc., 1995. See references to Waco.
^Sowell, A.J.Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas, Ben C. Jones & Co. Printers, 1900, p.55. For 2019 reprint p.52. See references to Waco.
^Prikryl, Daniel J. Fiction and Fact about the Titskanwatits, or Tonkawa, of East Central Texas.Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society 72:63–72, 2001. Portal https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1013930/m1/69/
^Collins, Michael. Archeology of Central Texas.The Prehistory of Texas, Texas A&M Anthropology Series, p.217, Timothy K. Perttula, editor
^Skeels, Lydia L.M. An ethnohistorical survey of Texas Indians. Office of the State Archeologist report # 22.Texas Historical Survey Committee, Austin, 1972. For an approximate distribution of the Coahuiltecan language(s) which includes Travis County see mapEthnolinguistic Distribution of Native Texas Indians, 1500 and 1776 on file at Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) Map Collection, University of Texas.https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_texas/ethnolinguistic_natives.jpg
^Kerber, Lisa.Fiskville, Texas Historical Marker. Documentation and source material used in the application to the Texas Historical Commission for a historical maker for Fiskville, Travis County, Texas, marker #13095. Austin History Center, Call No. A CDROM 976.431 KE. In-library use only.
^Cox, Mike. The Civil War, The Battle of Bull Creek.Central Texas Tales, The History Press, 2012.
^Preece, Harold. "Eagle of the Mountains: The true story of Ranger Dick Preece, who challenged Comanche and outlaw".Texas Rangers, Dec 1949. On file with the Richard Lincoln Preece Papers, UT's Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
^Clark, John, Jr. Archaeological and Archival Investigations at Fort Magruder, A Civil War Period Fortification in Austin, Travis County, Texas. Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, Texas, 1995
^Leonhardt, David; Quealy, Kevin (June 26, 2015),"Where Same-Sex Couples Live",The New York Times,archived from the original on June 29, 2015, retrievedJuly 6, 2015
^Burka, Paul (January 2006)."The M Word".Texas Monthly.Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. RetrievedApril 7, 2020.Of course, I live in Travis County, the only county to vote down Prop 2. [...] Travis voted just a tick short of 60 percent against it.
