Austin, TX

From the Archives: Learn 20,000 years of Austin history in 20 minutes

Published

2 days ago

January 5, 2025

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From the Archives: Learn 20,000 years of Austin history in 20 minutes

Out on the Austin speaking circuit, I often rely on stock speeches.

One audience favorite: “20,000 years of Austin history in 20 minutes.”

The title, at least, never fails to generate a laugh.

And those 20 minutes are usually followed by 40 minutes of sharp questions.

For the next few “From the Archives” columns, I thought it would be challenging to adapt that speech, built around 10 decisive moments in Austin history. After this introductory column, I’ll roll out each decisive moment, supported by material from our archives, over the course of 10 weeks.

10 decisive moments in Austin history

The arrival of humans (20,000 years ago): Mike Collins and other archeological experts have dated prehistorical human activity in Central Texas to 20,000 years ago by interpreting artifacts recovered from the Gault Site north of Austin. Why did these Paleo-Indians, forebears of the Native Americans such as the Tonkawa, choose this area? The same reason others have done so since then: abundant food, water, shelter and materials that make life meaningful. Included at the Gault Site, for instance, are tiny art objects.
The arrival of Europeans and Africans (500 years ago): Spaniard Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and an Arabic-speaking African named Esteban de Dorantes (Estevanico) were among 80 men shipwrecked on the Texas Gulf Coast. Four of them survived and spent the next years exploring the interior. Unlike what was accomplished in South Texas, the Spanish did not make a lasting impact on this part of Central Texas, although they briefly planted missions in the Austin area in 1730. Native Americans, including the Austin-area Tonkawa, still controlled most of the land that the Spanish, French, Mexicans and, later, Americans claimed in Texas until the mid-19th century.

The arrival of Americans (200 years ago): Led by Stephen F. Austin, American colonists poured into Texas during the 1820s. Many brought along enslaved African Americans, although a few free Black families also immigrated. The colonists settled mainly in the Colorado and Brazos river basins. During the 1830s, they allied with a fair number of Tejanos in rebellion against the central government of Mexico, which led to Texas independence in 1836. Very soon after that, German, Czech and other immigrants took advantage of the newly available land as Native Americans were pushed to the west and north.
Austin chosen as Republic of Texas capital (1839): A wilderness hamlet formerly named Waterloo, planted on a bluff above the Colorado River, Austin made an unlikely site for a national, much less a purportedly imperial capital. It lay deep within Native American territory without easy links to existing Texas population centers. Yet newcomers embraced its natural beauty, located on rolling prairies and clear creeks east of the “Colorado Mountains.” The urban grid laid out in 1839 still serves the needs of Central Austin nimbly today.
Arrival of emancipation and railroads (1860-70s): Austin was not a center of slave trade, or for that matter, any trade, unlike Houston or Galveston, but more than 20% of its population was African American when the the Civil War began in 1861. After Texans learned of emancipation on June 19, 1865, many former enslaved people founded “freedom colonies” of independent African American landowners. Their descendants often are counted among the civil rights leaders of the 20th century. On Christmas Day in 1871, the railroad arrived from Houston, revolutionizing the local economy, culture and social life. Without railroads, Austin would not have become a city.

The University of Texas founded (1883): Although only a few male students matriculated when classes began in temporary quarters, UT quickly became the second defining institution in Austin after government — itself to be represented by the city’s largest building in 1888, the domed Texas Capitol. Its faculty laid the intellectual foundation for the city’s future in science, engineering, technology, law, business, literature, music, movies and the arts. Just as promised in the Texas constitution, UT has become a global force in education, now complemented by a cluster of area colleges and universities.
The Austin Dam collapses (1900): When the dam across the Colorado River, completed in 1893 out of giant granite blocks, collapsed during one of the city’s devastating floods, it changed the intended course of Austin development. Instead of a manufacturing and distribution center supported by cheap electricity, Austin became the “home city” or “city of homes,” as defined by the leafy neighborhoods — segregated from the 1920s to the 1960s — that surround downtown and what long remained its two major economic engines — government and the university.
The federal government intervenes (1900s): Few people today recognize the huge impact made by several waves of federal intervention in the city. The feds planted military bases and training camps around Austin during the world wars. They funneled relief money through the capital city during the Great Depression, when federal funding helped pay for bridges, streets, state structures and the UT Tower, along with the Highland Lakes dams that provided crucial protection from the worst floods, while supplying water and electricity as well as recreational opportunities. Then after World War II, the feds turned over to UT a closed magnesium plant north of town that became a research center and the locus of Austin’s high tech boom.
A distinctive Austin culture flourishes (1960s-2000s): While real wealth arrived for the first time with the tech boom, the city’s creative culture thrived, sequentially, in the fields of music, moviemaking, traditional arts, digital arts and innovative dining. Meanwhile, the political culture gelled during the 1970s as the new antiwar, youth, green, gay, Chicano and women’s movements joined the traditional labor and civil rights groups in a progressive coalition that survives, if uneasily, to this day.
Austin character matures (now): Cultures were not the only things that evolved. Austin’s collective character, as observed during daily reporting on the scene, can be described as open (to difference, to change, to stasis), smart (not just in the bookish sense), kind (not merely its quickly multiplying nonprofits), fun (the party never stops) and alert (to the world as well as the community). This was not always the case and is still not always the case today. Yet it makes Austin more than just another big city.

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Austin, TX

Jimmy Blacklock named new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court

Published

3 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Jimmy Blacklock named new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court

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Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a conservative ally of Gov. Greg Abbott, has been named the new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He replaces Nathan Hecht, the court’s longest serving justice, who stepped down at the end of December due to the mandatory judicial retirement age.

Abbott appointed his general counsel, James P. Sullivan, to take the seat vacated by Blacklock’s promotion.

“The Supreme Court of Texas plays a crucial role to shape the future of our great state, and Jimmy Blacklock and James Sullivan will be unwavering guardians of the Texas Constitution serving on our state’s highest judicial court,” Abbott said in a statement.

As chief justice, Blacklock will take on a larger role in the administration of the court. During his tenure, Hecht helped reform the rules of civil procedure and was a fierce advocate for legal aid and other programs to help low-income Texans access the justice system. But, as he told The Texas Tribune in December, when it comes to rulings, “the chief is just one voice of nine.”

Adding Sullivan to the court will further secure the court’s conservative stronghold. While Hecht came up in an era when state courts were less politically relevant, Blacklock and Sullivan are both young proteges of an increasingly active conservative legal movement.

Blacklock attended Yale Law School and clerked on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and after a stint in private practice, he joined the Texas Office of the Attorney General under Abbott. He helped lead Texas’ aggressive litigation strategy against the Obama administration, defending the state’s restrictive abortion and voter identification laws, gay marriage restrictions and crusade against the Affordable Care Act.

When Abbott became governor, Blacklock became his general counsel. Abbott appointed him to the bench in December 2017, when he was just 38 years old.

The Texas Supreme Court has transformed over the last few decades from a plaintiff-friendly venue dominated by Democrats to the exclusive domain of increasingly conservative Republicans. Abbott, a former justice himself, has played a huge role in this shift, appointing six of the nine current justices, including Sullivan.

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Sullivan graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He spent four years as Texas assistant solicitor general during Abbott’s tenure as attorney general, and in 2018, became Abbott’s deputy general counsel. In 2021, he became the governor’s general counsel.

“As General Counsel for the Office of the Governor, James Sullivan has provided superior legal advice and rendered opinions on some of the most consequential legal issues in Texas,” Abbott said in a statement. “He has the integrity, temperament, and experience Texas needs as a Texas Supreme Court Justice.”

It’s now seen as one of the most conservative high courts in the country, issuing consequential rulings on abortion, COVID restrictions, health care for trans minors and local control in just the last few years. While Democrats have tried to pin these often unpopular rulings on the justices during election years, incumbents tend to easily win reelection in these relatively low-awareness down-ballot races.

Blacklock defeated Harris County District Judge DaSean Jones in November by more than 16 points. In a statement Monday, he thanked Hecht for his “extraordinary legacy of service.”

“The Supreme Court of Texas belongs to the People of Texas, not to the judges or the lawyers,” he said. “Our job at the Court is to apply the law fairly and impartially to every case that comes before us. My colleagues and I are committed to defending the rule of law and to preserving our Texas and United States Constitutions.”

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Austin, TX

A New Restaurant With Southeast Texas Cowboy Flair Has Food Truck Roots

Published

11 hours ago

January 6, 2025

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A New Restaurant With Southeast Texas Cowboy Flair Has Food Truck Roots

One of Austin’s best barbecue trucks finally has a full-blown restaurant.

Micklethwait Craft Meats, a barbecue truck that formerly took up residency on Rosewood Avenue, opened its first standalone restaurant at 4602 Tanney Street in East Austin on Friday, January 3.

Tom Micklethwait, the owner and founder of Micklethwait Craft Meats, says the new space has also allowed the restaurant to expand its menu to offer an ever-changing lineup of specials and baked goods, in addition to butchering its own cuts of meats. The restaurant has also incorporated new offset pits, including one that allows Micklethwait to cook ingredients and meats directly on the fire. “The new cooking style will allow the restaurant to expand its repertoire and how we approach barbecue as opposed to the classic Central Texas offset smoker,” he says. “We’re getting more into Southwest Texas cowboy style.”

Micklethwait Craft Meats has been an Austin staple since 2012, but diners have largely secured its smoked meats from a truck — until now.

Micklethwait Craft Meats’

Though he believes brisket will always be the restaurant’s No. 1 seller, Micklethwait predicts newer favorites will include chicken al carbon. Cooked Southwest Texas style — smoked with post oak and finished directly over mesquite coals — the dish is served with salsa verde and tortillas, almost like a build-your-own taco platter, he says.

The restaurant, which Micklethwait says had a good first-day turnout, has launched with limited hours from 11 a.m. to around 4 p.m. or sellout Thursday through Sunday, but by March or April, Micklethwait says he plans to expand the hours — adding on dinner or more hours earlier in the week.

a brisket sandwich from Micklethwait Craft Meats served with slaw, pickles, and red onion. — Get your brisket on a plate or in sandwich form.

a person holds up smoked dino ribs from Micklethwait Craft Meats. — Micklethwait Craft Meats is known for its variety of smoked meats, including its massive Dino Ribs.

Micklethwait purchased the building at the corner of Springdale and Oak Springs last summer from friends. He had already used the 90-year-old building, which previously served as a farm store and a neighborhood church, as Craft Meat’s headquarters and commissary kitchen for its food truck for the past six years. He began renovating the building last August. The revamped building now offers 40 indoor seats and 80 seats on its spacious outdoor patio, which is shaded by pecan trees. The Micklethwaits say they plan to add some new components, including an onsite herb and vegetable garden that will help fuel their menu.

Though known mainly for its food trucks, Micklethwait has owned other restaurants. The team originally opened a Micklethwait restaurant in Smithville in 2018 but closed it in 2020 to focus on the Austin food truck, which he opened in 2012.

Micklethwai also operated the sandwich truck Romanouskas Delicatessen from 2015 to 2016 and the taco truck Taco Bronco in 2020. He expanded his footprint in 2021 with Saddle Up, a beer garden and icehouse located on Rosewood Avenue, where the Micklethwait truck was once located. As planned, Micklethwait closed Saddle Up late last year to launch the restaurant.

Micklethwait Craft Meats’s new building. — Micklethwait Craft Meats’s new restaurant is housed in a former farmhouse and church.

Micklethwait Craft Meats is located at 4602 Tanney Street, East Austin, 78721. It is open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., or sellout, from Thursday through Saturday.

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Auburn basketball vs. Texas: Score prediction, injury updates, how to watch, tipoff time

Published

18 hours ago

January 6, 2025

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Auburn basketball vs. Texas: Score prediction, injury updates, how to watch, tipoff time

After getting a relatively breezy win over Missouri on Saturday to open up conference play, the SEC slate is set to take it up a notch on Auburn basketball this week.

The second-ranked Tigers don’t play a home game for a week-plus a they travel to Austin, Texas, on Monday for a matchup with the Longhorns at 8 p.m. CST Tuesday before heading east to play South Carolina at noon Saturday.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing them in Austin or playing them here,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Saturday. “We’ve got 40 minutes of a basketball game against the University of Texas. … For me, honestly, I think we can play better on the road. You have to: You have to be sharper, you have to take better care of the ball. You can’t be as casual with your passes. You have to be locked in.”

As the Tigers embark on a week-long road trip, here’s everything you need to know about Tuesday’s tilt with Texas.

Why more history is on the line for Bruce Pearl against Texas

With the Missouri win, Bruce Pearl earned his 213th career victory at Auburn — which tied him with Joel Eaves for the most in the program’s history. On Tuesday, Pearl has a chance to surpass Eaves and become the winningest coach in the program’s history.

“I will celebrate whatever we accomplish this year this summer,” Pearl said Saturday of the accolade. “I’ll celebrate with my friends, my family, the Auburn Family, on the boat at Lake Martin; out there on a golf course. Nobody will enjoy it more. But you know me. You have to know I’m on to Texas and on to the next one.”

Injury updates: Auburn basketball vs. Texas

It should be a clean bill of health for both squads. Neither had a player out in their SEC-openers, and while Auburn may still be monitoring Johni Broome’s shoulder in the aftermath of his injury against Georgia State, he’s played 20-plus minutes in each of the Tigers’ three games since.

How to watch Auburn basketball vs. Texas: Tipoff time, TV and live stream options

TV channel: ESPN2
Streaming: Fubo
Start time: 8 p.m. CT
Location: Moody Center (Austin, Texas)

Listen live: Auburn basketball vs. Texas on the radio

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on WLWI FM (92.3) in Montgomery and WGZZ FM (94.3) in Auburn. The radio call can also be streamed online. Here are the announcers:

Analysis/Color: Randall Dickey
Play-by-play: Andy Burcham

Prediction for Auburn basketball vs. Texas

No. 2 Auburn 78, Texas 70: It’ll be just the second true road game of the season for Auburn. Pearl said he thinks game sites will be inconsequential for much of SEC’s best this season, and looking at Texas’ resume so far, he could be right. While the Longhorns have just two losses, one of those was an 11-point defeat to then-No. 25 UConn at the Moody Center.

If the Tigers can take a few pages out of Texas A&M’s book, they should be fine. The Aggies staved off the Longhorns for an 80-60 victory on Saturday. In the process, they held Texas guard Tre Johnson — the Longhorn’s leading scorer — to 11 points on 2-of-13 shooting.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.

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