Austin History

1870

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Austin’s population was 1,615 Black residents, which composed 36 percent of the 4,428 inhabitants.

1870-1920

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Early Chinese immigrants to Austin were prohibited from owning property. Discriminatory laws denied Chinese immigrants (who were prohibited from citizenship under federal law) the right to own property in Austin. The spouses of these immigrants were often stripped of their U.S. citizenship and its various benefits. The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed by President Chester Arthur, … Continued

1865

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The June 1865 Council meeting was a call to respond to the Black presence in Austin with more police and with expanded police power. Following the call for more police in order to deal with the presence of Black people, a vagrancy law was put into place to single out Blacks. It called for the … Continued

1866

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Former enslaved Africans freed during the Civil War lived all over Austin, but settled primarily in the following communities Clarksville, first settled by Charles Clark, went from West Lynn to the Missouri-Pacific railroad tracks and from 10th Street to Waterston Avenue. Wheatville [not Wheatsville] was named for James Wheat and was bounded by Rio Grande … Continued

1860

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Austin’s population was 3,546, 1,019 enslaved Africans and 12 freedmen.

1860

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Austin census recorded only 973 enslaved Africans in the 1860 census, an unusually high number of freedmen’s communities flourished here after the war. In fact, records show that African Americans at this time lived all over the city. Also, whites and Mexican Americans lived in the freedmen’s communities.

1850

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Austin’s population reached 854, 225 of whom were enslaved Africans and one free Black.

1840

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City of Austin’s population included 856 residents, and 145 enslaved Africans.