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You are here: Home / Blog / Austin Redditors Dig Up Rainey Street’s Past Life
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Austin Redditors Dig Up Rainey Street’s Past Life

James Rambin May 16, 2017 Comment

A view of the house at 96 Rainey Street in 1980 and 2017, which is now a sports bar called Bar 96. Photos courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission and the Austin Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.

Austin’s changed all over, but you might not find a better example of the city’s transformation over the last decade than Rainey Street. This formerly quiet residential road close to downtown looks almost nothing like itself ten years ago, even though many of its historic homes haven’t been demolished — they’ve just been converted into bars and restaurants, remodeled to the extent that you might not recognize them in the shadow of the district’s new condo towers and other improvements.

Rainey Street Condos For Sale

  • $449,000 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #5A2
    Austin, TX
  • $558,000 48 E East Avenue #1706
    Austin, TX
  • $1,000,000 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #11A2
    Austin, TX
  • $994,410 44 East Avenue #1610
    Austin, TX
  • $1,722,500 44 East Avenue #3507
    Austin, TX
40 N Interstate 35 Highway #5A2
Austin, TX
Photo of 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #5A2, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2564522)
$449,000
Lot Size
872 sqft

Home Size
1,234 sqft

Beds
2 Beds

Baths
2 Baths

48 E East Avenue #1706
Austin, TX
Photo of 48 E East Avenue #1706, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 1759176)
$558,000
Lot Size
17,860 sqft

Home Size
740 sqft

Beds
1 Bed

Baths
1 Bath

40 N Interstate 35 Highway #11A2
Austin, TX
Photo of 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #11A2, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 6845344)
$1,000,000
Lot Size
N/A

Home Size
2,536 sqft

Beds
4 Beds

Baths
3 Baths

44 East Avenue #1610
Austin, TX
Photo of 44  East Avenue #1610, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 8056295)
$994,410
Lot Size
N/A

Home Size
1,260 sqft

Beds
2 Beds

Baths
2 Baths

44 East Avenue #3507
Austin, TX
Photo of 44  East Avenue #3507, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 5959136)
$1,722,500
Lot Size
N/A

Home Size
1,993 sqft

Beds
3 Beds

Baths
3 Baths

  • 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #5A2
    Austin, TX
    Photo of 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #5A2, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2564522)
    $449,000
    Lot Size
    872 sqft

    Home Size
    1,234 sqft

    Beds
    2 Beds

    Baths
    2 Baths

  • 48 E East Avenue #1706
    Austin, TX
    Photo of 48 E East Avenue #1706, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 1759176)
    $558,000
    Lot Size
    17,860 sqft

    Home Size
    740 sqft

    Beds
    1 Bed

    Baths
    1 Bath

  • 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #11A2
    Austin, TX
    Photo of 40 N Interstate 35 Highway #11A2, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 6845344)
    $1,000,000
    Lot Size
    N/A

    Home Size
    2,536 sqft

    Beds
    4 Beds

    Baths
    3 Baths

  • 44 East Avenue #1610
    Austin, TX
    Photo of 44  East Avenue #1610, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 8056295)
    $994,410
    Lot Size
    N/A

    Home Size
    1,260 sqft

    Beds
    2 Beds

    Baths
    2 Baths

  • 44 East Avenue #3507
    Austin, TX
    Photo of 44  East Avenue #3507, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 5959136)
    $1,722,500
    Lot Size
    N/A

    Home Size
    1,993 sqft

    Beds
    3 Beds

    Baths
    3 Baths

Previous Next
 

Nobody seems to note Austin’s frequent and drastic transformations more than the folks at r/Austin, the city’s page on Reddit, and this week a poster dug up some old Google Street View images of Rainey Street circa 2007 — a single decade may not seem like a long time, but for Austin that’s something more like an epoch. If you click around, you’ll find that most of the street is navigable via 2007-era Street View, and if you only know the area in its current incarnation, you may find it truly baffling to connect what you’re seeing to anything in the present.

Check out the changes to the house at 79 Rainey Street that became Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden between 2007 and 2017 for a real shocker. It’s amazing what some red paint and picket fences can do!

Another poster in the Reddit thread linked to a Flickr album with a tour of Rainey Street back in 2005, a year after the area was rezoned to Central Business District and just before development began on the street in earnest.

Whether you were in Austin to see the street like this in person or not, it’s worth spending some time clicking around Rainey Street’s digital past — if nothing else, you can impress your friends with your historical knowledge next time you’re out at the bars. That stuff impresses people, right?

Related

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 78701, conversions, history, rainey street, reddit

About James Rambin

James is an Austin native, but tries not to brag about it. He writes about new development, local history, and urban design. Email him anything at james@towers.net.

109 E 10th Street
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