In the early days of the Great Depression, construction jobs all but disappeared, and that was bad news for Mexican-American Austinite Roy Velasquez, who had risen to the role of foreman on a crew laying sewer pipe in the late 1920s before he was 20 years old. With no local work left, he traveled to Kingsland to organize a crew and build cabins for workers at a granite quarry ...
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The Chicago Architects Behind Downtown Austin’s Rising Skyline
As you might imagine, most tall buildings in and around downtown Austin are designed by architects from Texas. But looking at projects either planned or under construction in the central city, you'll notice Chicago pops up a lot -- not exactly a close neighbor, but as a hotspot for architecture (and towers in particular) it seems the Windy City's helping steer the ship around ...
A Field Guide to Austin’s New Deal-Era Public Works Architecture
Perhaps the most lasting impact of the New Deal programs enacted during the 1930s by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the economic woes of the Great Depression is found in its public works projects, built or funded by an alphabet soup of federal agencies including the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian ...
East Austin’s Historic Texaco Depot Could Get a ‘Cosmic’ Rebirth
As the 10-acre site of Austin's first rail yard settles into its new identity as the Saltillo mixed-use development, other than the tracks themselves there are few reminders left of this area's century-long history as an industrial and shipping hub enabling much of the city's economic growth in the 20th century. The Texaco Depot buildings found at 1300 and 1302 East ...
Inside the ‘Very Sensitive’ Renovation of East Austin’s Uptown Sports Club
Perhaps one of the single most recognizable abandoned buildings in East Austin, the Uptown Sports Club is one step closer to a fresh start. An extensive restoration plan for the shuttered bar -- which currently sits empty in a state of increasing disrepair at the northeast corner of East Sixth and Waller Streets since its closure decades ago -- found the approval of the City of ...
