In the autumn of 1838, Mirabeau B. Lamar, president-elect of the Texas Republic,
set out to hunt buffalo but ended up with a much greater catch — a home
for the new state capital. Lamar fell in love with the area that was surrounded
by rolling hills and fed by cool springs — the area that would come to
be called AUSTIN! The government arrived within a year, and the people just
kept coming. Today Austin has passed the half-million population mark, but has
somehow never lost its small town feel. Many Texans who live in faster-paced
cities like Dallas or Houston dream of someday escaping to the laid-back beauty
of Austin. Relaxed it may be, but boring it’s not. From one of the nation’s
largest universities to the nation’s largest statehouse, Austin offers
all around “TEXAS BIG” attractions.
