Austin, TX

From the Statesman archives: How Mueller neighborhood streets got their Austin names

Published

8 months ago

March 30, 2025

From the Statesman archives: How Mueller neighborhood streets got their Austin names

Tooling through Mueller, have you ever wondered how the streets of this 21st-century neighborhood, such as Camacho, Taniguchi and Scarbrough, earned their names?

We offer partial historical answers in today’s column.

By way of background, a stroll through the American-Statesman archives reveals several strata of history about Austin street names.

1839: The original map of Austin, drawn by master surveyor L.J. Pilie, reveals three types of street names: 1) north-south streets named after Texas rivers, which is still the case; 2) east-west streets named after Texas trees (changed to numerals in 1886, but a change adopted slowly); 3) other names, including the grand-sounding Congress Avenue for the wide street that bisected the new capital of the Texas Republic, as well as names that represented different types of boundaries (East, West, Water).
1886: City leaders replaced the tree names with numbered streets on Sept. 21, 1886. Edwin Waller, charged with hacking the city out of the wilderness, had actually preferred numbers for east-west streets, as a July 11, 1839, letter to Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar proves. Some maps from the late 19th century and early 20th century show both numbers and tree names for the same streets.
Late 1800s-early 1900s: As Austin slipped outside of the downtown grid and the garden plots to the east, more streets were named after early Texas leaders and Austin residents (Lamar Boulevard, Barton Springs Road); or nearby towns already named after early Texans (Burnet Road, Cameron Road); local landmarks (Asylum Road, later renamed Guadalupe Street); or nearby communities (Dessau Road, Old Fredericksburg Road, later renamed South Lamar Boulevard).
Late 1900s: Three major trends: 1) New freeways named by federal, state or city transportation entities (at times confusing, such as the doubly dubbed MoPac, named for the parallel Missouri Pacific railroad, but also known as Texas Loop 1); 2) new suburban streets named by developers after faraway, fanciful or imaginary people and places, or conversely, actual local geography; and 3) throughways, some later expanded, named after local politicians (Ben White Boulevard) or highway officials (Ed Bluestein Boulevard).
2000: The new Mueller redevelopment provided a singular opportunity to name a lot of new streets under the scrutiny of a public-private project. The plateau east of Interstate 35 had already been associated with several key historical events — the scalping of settler Josiah Wilbarger in 1833, the purchase of land by twice-enslaved Newton Isaac Collins in 1872, and the opening of the city’s first civilian airport there in 1930. It was named after City Council Member Robert Mueller (pronounced Miller), who died in office in 1927.

Austinites revved up efforts to move Mueller Municipal Airport, located a few miles from downtown, in 1984. A leading candidate for a replacement was land near Manor, which helps explain some of the industrial, commercial, office and hotel space built on speculation during this period near Interstate 35 and U.S. 290. The city, however, chose the federal offer of Bergstrom Air Force Base in Del Valle. It became Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which opened in 1999.

At that point, what to do with the hundreds of acres that had been the main footprint of the Mueller Airport?

The city of Austin entered into a partnership with Catellus Development Corp. to create a neighborhood based on ideas associated with “new urbanism.” Those ideas included urban-like density, walkable streets, sensitive landscaping and a mix of resident incomes. Also clustered around the former airport were movie studios, a children’s hospital, a children’s museum and Rathgeber Village, home to several social service groups.

Meanwhile, a committee was convened to choose Mueller street names from the names of significant Austin figures, some of them not well known, especially to newcomers.

Here are just a few of those street names (I’ll return to the subject in future “From the Archives” columns):

Zach Scott Street: The movie and stage actor Zachary Scott (1914-1965), son of a prominent Austin family that included Dr. Zachary Scott (1880-1964), is perhaps best remembered for film roles in “Mildred Pierce” and “The Southerner.” He is the namesake for Zach Theatre, formerly known as Zachary Scott Theatre, the city’s largest resident theater company.
Barbara Jordan Boulevard: The former U.S. congresswoman’s early life and career are associated with Houston, but the fearless defender of the Constitution spent her later years in Austin as a professor at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. Two large statues of Jordan (1936-1996) can be found in the city, one on the University of Texas campus, the other at Austin-Bergstrom.
Camacho Street: Lorraine Fuentes “Grandma” Castro Camacho (1917-1999) worked in food service for the Austin school district, but more than that, she was a volunteer and community organizer who took care of the youth in the Holly Street neighborhood for decades. Mother of beloved community historian Danny Camacho, she lent her name to the Lorraine “Grandma” Camacho Activity Center.
Taniguchi Street: A native of Japan, Isamu Taniguchi (1897-1992) immigrated to the U.S. as a teen. During World War II, he was forced into an internment camp at Crystal City, about 115 miles southwest of San Antonio, where he worked in the carpentry shop and maintained gardens. He retired to Austin in 1967, where his son and grandson became prominent architects and educators. In gratitude to the city, he almost single-handedly created the Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden at the Zilker Botanical Garden.
Scarbrough Street: Named after Lemuel Scarbrough (1889-1965), part of at least four generations of his family who turned a farmer-oriented general store into the city’s most glamorous and comprehensive department store. Like his relatives, Lemuel became a philanthropist and civic leader. The Scarbrough Building, including its art deco additions, still commands the southwest corner of Congress Avenue and Sixth Street.
Emma Long Street: While Austin city government was led by a club of white businessmen for more than a century, Emma Long (1912-2011), an American-Statesman reporter, broke that mold in 1948 by becoming the first woman elected to the City Council. Long was unusually progressive for her time and promoted many of the changes that redefined Austin during the 1950s and ’60s. She reactivated the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and is the namesake for Emma Long Metropolitan Park in Northwest Austin.

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Austin, TX

Austin real estate broker, supplier arrested for alleged role in drug network

Published

6 minutes ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Austin real estate broker, supplier arrested for alleged role in drug network

AUSTIN, Texas — Court documents have revealed that a commercial real estate broker in Austin was arrested on Thursday on charges related to a narcotics distribution operation.

According to an arrest affidavit, Justin Bayne, 45, who is the president of Baynes Commercial, faces multiple charges, including criminal conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance.

ALSO| Hays County man sentenced to 15 years for 2022 crash that killed woman, injured baby

According to investigators from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bayne was involved in a concierge-style drug network, regularly purchasing cocaine and introducing associates to an accused dealer. The clientele reportedly included doctors, executives, and individuals in the entertainment industry.

The documents indicate that Bayne maintained a supplier-buyer relationship with Uthman “Tobi” Oluwatobi Salisu, 31, who was arrested in September following an anonymous tip.

Salisu is facing five counts of money laundering of $300,000 or more, and four counts of manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance.

The affidavit references messages where Bayne arranged cocaine pickups, paid through Venmo, and organized purchases from his office. Investigators estimate that introductions made by Bayne led to more than $45,000 in cocaine sales.

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Austin, TX

Austin ISD approves plan to close 10 schools after hours of public comment

Published

18 hours ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Austin ISD approves plan to close 10 schools after hours of public comment

The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted yes to a highly contentious plan to close 10 schools and make several major programming changes before the 2026-27 school year.

The vote came early Friday morning after months of community meetings and school protests.

Superintendent Matias Segura estimates the plan will generate $21.5 million — eliminating the district’s $19.7 million budget deficit — and reduce the number of “empty seats” in the district by 6,319 from more than 20,000.

“This is difficult, and I wish we didn’t have to do it,” Segura said at the meeting. “But the pressures are gargantuan, and without significant change, we will not be the school district that ultimately can protect who we are moving forward.”

The board’s vote gives the district the green light to close eight elementary schools — Barrington, Becker, Dawson, Oak Springs, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley, Widén and Winn Montessori — as well as Bedichek and Martin middle schools.

Austin Independent School District

Austin ISD estimates closing these schools will generate $21.5 million in savings.

Additionally, International High School, which helps ninth and 10th grade students who recently immigrated to Texas transition into the state’s public education system, will close due to low enrollment. International students will be reassigned to a campus near their home and will be offered “newcomer support.”

While the financial savings will be a boon to the district, the plan also aims to improve accountability ratings at seven chronically failing schools. The letter grades are handed down annually by the Texas Education Agency to public schools and are largely based on standardized test scores.

The district’s original plan, released in early October, included 13 school closures and triggered parent and student protests. The district received more than 7,000 pieces of community feedback from concerned parents, teachers and staff. That feedback led to the district scaling back the number of closures to 10.

The board voted on the plan after nearly three hours of public comment from parents, teachers and community members. Nearly every speaker urged the board to reject the plan.

Téo Vigil, a third grader at Ridgetop Elementary, stood on a chair to reach the microphone and deliver his message to the board.

“At school, I learned to listen to my feelings. When I think about this plan, it makes me feel sad, worried and confused. I think you should listen to your feelings, too. Good choices do not feel like this,” he said. “I know you already made a plan, but grown-ups can change their minds when something does not feel right anymore.”

Band director Andria Hyden said she drives an hour from her home in Round Rock to South Austin’s Bedichek Middle School.

Hyden said for many kids, Bedichek is “the only place where they feel safe, accepted and successful.”

“Middle school is already one of the hardest stages of childhood,” she said. “Asking students to start over across three different campuses, to rebuild friendships, to search for trusted adults, to try and find where they fit is not what’s best for their emotional or academic well being.”

Major changes coming to dual language programs

The district’s most comprehensive dual language programming at Becker, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley and Reilly elementary schools will be moved to Sanchez, Pickle, Wooten and Odom elementary schools as part of this plan.

Current dual language students will be given priority transfers to the new campuses.

Sanchez, Pickle and Wooten elementary schools will remain “neighborhood” campuses that serve households in their boundary lines and offer dual language programming to a portion of the student population. The district said it plans on eventually transitioning these schools to campus-wide dual language schools that are non-zoned.

Odom Elementary will become the district’s only school that offers a campus-wide dual language program and is non-zoned. At campus-wide dual language schools, almost all curriculum is taught in both English and Spanish.

The district said it is relocating its dual language programs to serve the emergent bilingual population — students who primarily speak Spanish at home and are learning English — more equitably.

Reilly Elementary will offer a Montessori program, and students from Winn Montessori will be given priority transfers to follow the program as Winn closes.

The plan approved Thursday is far less sweeping than the district’s initial proposal, which also included redrawing the attendance boundaries for 98% of schools and changing feeder patterns so more students stay together through elementary, middle and high school.

The district claims those changes would have balanced out enrollment throughout Austin ISD. District data shows some schools are extremely under-enrolled while others are so full they require portable classrooms.

In a Nov. 4 email to parents, Segura said those aspects of the plan were delayed following “significant concerns” about district officials responsible for handling community feedback related to the plan. Those concerns resulted in two employees being placed on leave while an investigation takes place.

What’s next for the district

The district will send letters to staff at closing schools with a survey asking where they would like to work next school year.

Segura said the district will discuss closing additional schools and redrawing attendance boundaries in the spring and could vote on another plan next fall.

That plan could include closing Maplewood, Palm and Bryker Woods elementary schools. These were originally slated for closure before next school year before the district narrowed its focus. AISD officials have not confirmed all of the schools being considered for future consolidation plans.

Another change that could be settled next fall is a plan that would allow construction to continue at Oak Springs Elementary. The school in East Austin is set to undergo a $47.6 million renovation with money from the voter-approved 2022 bond.

During the construction period, Oak Springs students would attend Blackshear Elementary. Upon the project’s completion, students from Blackshear would return to Oak Springs and Blackshear would likely close.

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Austin, TX

Austin dominates Texas in OpenTable’s 2025 Top 100 Restaurants in America

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Press Room

Austin dominates Texas in OpenTable’s 2025 Top 100 Restaurants in America

OpenTable released its Top 100 Restaurants in America for 2025, and Austin stood out as the Texas city with the most recognized restaurants. The annual list — based on more than 10 million diner reviews, reservation demand, diner ratings, and the share of five-star reviews — highlights the country’s most sought-after dining spots.

This year’s collection reflects what diners themselves are booking and praising. Here are the Austin destinations that made the list:

Mediterranean | $50 and over

A modern, California-inflected Mediterranean restaurant known for dishes such as smoky garlic hummus, shawarma-spiced skirt steak and grilled salmon kebabs.

A West Austin favorite emphasizing fresh oysters, cold seafood platters and classic coastal cooking.

Steakhouse | $50 and over

A downtown oyster bar and chophouse offering wood-grilled steaks, market oysters and an intimate fine-dining setting.

An Austin institution since 1975, featuring dry-aged steaks, classic fine-dining dishes and one of the state’s largest wine lists.

A retro-styled “red sauce” Italian-American restaurant with classics served in a lively downtown space.

Contemporary Mexican | $31 to $50

Chef Tyson Cole’s nationally known Japanese restaurant offering non-traditional sushi and creative small plates.

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