27 Vintage Pictures Of Austin From Way Before It Was "Cool"

    A look back in Texan history.

    Gabriel H. Sanchez
    by Gabriel H. Sanchez

    BuzzFeed Staff

    texashistory.unt.edu

    This 1949 picture was taken at the corner of 9th Street and Congress Avenue, looking north toward the Capitol Building. Nearly every building pictured, with exception to the Capital Building, has since been demolished or condemned for development.

    Pictorial Parade / Getty Images

    The "Little Bo-Peep" float heading up Congress Avenue during the 1955 Round-Up Parade, as spectators crowd the city sidewalks to catch a view.

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    Dressed in formal attire, a group of students and teachers from Austin's Anderson High School join together for a reception in 1955.

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    People stop to have their gas pumped at the Elsner Service Station, a gas station that stood on S. Lamar, near W. Oltorf.

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    The first Kentucky Fried Chicken stand in Austin, in the summer of 1960.

    Country Music Hall Of Fame / Getty

    Three sisters, from a musical folk group called "Young", performing during a Midnight Jamboree on Austin's KCEN radio station in 1956.

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    In this 1955 picture, a woman in a floral dress sings during what seems to be a fall cookout.

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    The newly opened Chenard's Women's Clothing Store closed for the evening at 2338 Guadalupe st, in 1956. Today, that address is the location of a University of Texas shopping icon — Tyler's.

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    Three women pose for a picture in 1955.

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    Congress Avenue at night was just as beautiful in 1947 as it is today. The Paramount and the State movie theaters are pictured here – both are still open to this day.

    REX / Shutterstock

    A preacher prays and prepares to submerge a young girl for her baptism in the Colorado River, in 1938.

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    Two women relaxing poolside at Eliza Spring in Barton Springs, 1953. Today, the city has plans to re-develop Eliza Spring to be a more habitable location for local endangered wildlife.

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    In this 1943 picture, a group of soldiers from Del Valle Army Air Base are training with rifles over their head in the Deep Eddy pool. Today, Deep Eddy pool remains Texas's oldest swimming pool.

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    A sharpshooter from Oklahoma, known as Bill Cherokee, performs a trick shot by shooting over his shoulder at a woman holding the target in her mouth, in 1941.

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    The Lone Ranger, aka actor Clayton Moore, greets a myriad of young fans, in Austin in 1956.

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    A winner at Austin's 1959 Beautician Awards poses for the camera with her prize in hand.

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    The top five students in the 1964 class of Anderson High School pose together in cap and gown.

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    A couple of children make a Texas state sculpture out of sand at the Pan Am Recreation Center in 1953. Today, the Pan Am Recreation Center is still a great place for kids to connect with their community and cultures.

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    The 1955 Homecoming Queen of Anderson High School poses for a portrait in the back seat of an automobile.

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    In this 1953 picture, a young woman poses on the riverbank of what was once Town Lake. That body of water is now called Lady Bird Lake.

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    A car from the 1940s rolls by with silly slogans drawn on its side, during a 1954 Boy Scout Parade.

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    The mother of a young Texas bride adjusts her daughter's veil just before walking down the aisle in 1951.

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    A young girl with plenty of friends blows out the candles on her birthday cake in Spring, 1959.

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    At this 1957 picnic in Zilker Park, several adults help a little boy pick out the perfect watermelon to enjoy on a hot day.

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    Crowds pack the city streets as cars are seen backed up bumper-to-bumper in downtown Austin, 1954.

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    On a rare snowday, a group of Austinites are pulled by a horse sled. In the background, the Austin American Statesman can be seen in its original location of 1940.

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    A rare snowfall has blanketed South Congress and the Capitol during the winter of 1967. Besides the Capitol, these building pictured have since been demolished and replaced with newer office spaces.

    CORRECTION

    The lake in #20 is Lady Bird Lake. An earlier version of this post misidentified it as Lake Austin.