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By Keith Peterson, September 9, 2007 | |
| | | 1. Austin, C.S.A. Marker | | |
Inscription. An active place during the Civil War, Austin was the site of the Secession Convention, March 2, 1861, and legislative sessions which lasted until June 1865. City visitors during the early 1860s included lobbyists, cotton speculators, military leaders, and businessmen seeking to aid the war effort. Five stage lines and a pony express to the railhead at Brenham provided communications. Also located here was the Texas Military Board, an agency created to obtain arms and munitions for 33 militia districts.
A city arsenal was set up on Waller Creek in southeast Austin. A gun cap factory in the old Land Office on 11th Street made 14,000 shells a day, and a foundry produced guns and cannon. Factories for shoes and gunpowder, and a sewing room in the basement of the capitol, furnished goods for the Confederate Army. The city also maintained a military fort.
During the war citizens endured Indian raids, epidemics of fever and diphtheria, rumors of slave uprisings, and a scarcity of food. Hotels refused room and board, even to state legislatures, unless payment was made in gold, silver, or goods such as nails and tobacco. As a result, some lawmakers lived in their wagons and cooked over open fires.
Erected 1965 by the State Historical Survey Committee. (Marker Number 12690.)
Location. 30° 15.77′ N, 97° 44.683′ W. Marker is in Austin, Texas, in Travis County. Marker is on Congress Avenue, on the right when traveling south. Click for map. Just south of West Cesar Chavez Street. Marker is in this post office area: Austin TX 78701, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Congress Avenue (within shouting distance of this marker); Site of the Headquarters of the United States Army for 5th Military District (approx. 0.2 miles away); Grinninger Fence (approx. 0.2 miles away); J.P. Schneider Store (approx. 0.2 miles away); Original Site of First Methodist Church of Austin (approx. 0.3 miles away); Southwestern Telegraph & Telephone Building (approx. 0.3 miles away); The “Austin Statesman” (approx. 0.3 miles away); Hotel Provident and Heierman Building (approx. 0.3 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Austin.
Credits. This page originally submitted on December 21, 2009, by Keith Peterson of Cedar Park, Texas. This page has been viewed 291 times since then. Photo 1. submitted on December 21, 2009, by Keith Peterson of Cedar Park, Texas. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page. |
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