Austin is very likely the oldest residential neighborhood in what is now El Paso. It began to form shortly after Juan Maria Ponce de Leon was given a land grant on the east side of the Rio Bravo del Norte in 1827. In 1848 the residents on the east bank became American citizens-politically. Culturally, they remained Chihuahuan, this identity was continually reinforced as immigrants from Chihuahua moved into the neighborhood.

The railroads came to the neighborhood’s west side in 1881, the offices of the Santa Fe Railroad occupying a two-story frame building at Fifth and Santa Fe Streets. This structure also served the Mexican Central Railway. During the Mexican Revolution, austin sheltered dozens of organizers, agents, undercover workers, and exiles from Mexico. The local residents were largely in sympathy with the insurrectionists, gave them refuge, and otherwise encouraged them.

The next decade brought prohibition to the border. Night after night throughout the 20s and early 30s, the crack of bullets whipped through the neighborhood as Border Patrol and Customs agents attempted to block the flow of illegal booze across the border and the smugglers fought back. The Chamizal Treaty of 1964 settled a one hundred year boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico and transferred over 600 acres of land from the United States (and the City of El Paso) to Mexico. austin lost Ninth and Tenth Streets in this settlement.

At the present time, the citizens of austin are cheered by the knowledge that their voices on behalf of historic district status have been heard. They are enormously pleased that the City of El Paso has recognized their little community as a genuine part of the region’s rich and varied history. The austin Historic District was created on March 25, 1991.

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