Walking Tour- Austin/OT

[Guest guest]

And it's Austin's turn

 

K

 

Austin Tours - Historic Walking Tours

 

*Walking Tours*

 

The painstakingly restored Capitol, which sports a flashy Extension, serves

as the departure point March through November for two popular free

guided-walking tours of downtown that help history buffs explore Austin's

past which is being preserved for the future.

 

The 10-block *Congress Avenue and nine-block Sixth Street (Pecan Street)

National Register Districts* deftly interweave modern skyscrapers with more

ornate 19th century buildings such as the Old Bakery (1876), Millett Opera

House (1878), Driskill Hotel (1886), Walter Tips Building (1876) and

Robinson-Rosner Building (1856). Historically significant places of worship,

such as St. Mary's Cathedral (1874) and St. David's Church (1854) reflect

Old World architecture.

 

Worth a short side trip is the O. Henry Home and Museum (1888), relocated

from 308 E. 4th St. to 5th Street between Neches and Red River. The

Victorian cottage served as the residence of famous short story writer

William Sydney Porter and his family from 1893-95. The museum is free and

open to the public from 12-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. The Historic Congress

Avenue & Sixth Street tour times are 9 a.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. on

Sunday.

 

For a peek into the lives of Victorian-era high society, take a stroll

through the *Bremond Block Historic District*, a residential enclave of

stately homes built on the edge of the city's commercial district before the

turn of the century. It contains a rare collection of homes belonging to

members of the John Bremond, Sr. Family, a wealthy merchant, and his

prosperous neighbors, the Robinsons and Hirschfields. Guided walking tours

of the Historic Bremond Block take place at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Other self-guided tours, using informative brochures, offer an inside look

at historic Hyde Park, one of Austin's oldest neighborhoods, and the Texas

State Cemetery, the resting place of many Texas heroes, and the West Austin

area.

 

But whether you visit turn-of-the-century neighborhoods, state landmarks or

the city's fine museums, you'll be walking in the footsteps of statesmen,

cattle barons, outlaws, bankers, artists, gamblers and preachers who left an

indelible mark on Austin.

 

*Self-Guided Tours*

 

If you would like to see historic Austin at your own pace, stop by the *Austin

Visitor Center* <http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/center> to pick up

copies of the following brochures produced by the Heritage Marketing

Department.* *

 

 

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Cheers!

Kathleen Petrides

The Woobey Queen

Http://www.woobeyworld.com