Whether you're visiting Austin for fun or for business, we hope you've built in some extra time to experience the unique history and heritage that make Austin special. We've put together a curated listing of all the places that historic Austin has to offer visitors.
In addition to cultural and heritage attractions, we serve as your guide to many of Austin's historic businesses as well. These businesses have either been designated as a Texas Treasure Business or are at least 50 years old. Get ready to explore!
Foodies unite! Austin may be the Live Music Capital of the World, but the food here is a tasty reason to visit all on its own. And these restaurants have been around for at least 50 years, so you know they must be good!
Here are some of the historic Austin restaurants to put on your "must try" list:
Barbecue
Tex-Mex
Cisco's Restaurant Bakery & Bar | Joe's Bakery & Coffee Shop | Matt's El Rancho
Burgers and Sandwiches
Avenue B Grocery and Market | Dirty Martin's Place | Sandy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers | The Tavern | Top Notch Hamburgers
Steak and Seafood
Bakery
German
If you're visiting Austin to experience the history and heritage, why not stay in a historic hotel? Immerse yourself in history in one of these historic accommodations.
Live music is what makes Austin, well, Austin. If you're looking to catch some local, regional, and even national performers in a historic setting this list is for you. These venues have stood the test of time (and garnered fan approval!), by operating for at least 50 years.
Country
Broken Spoke | Continental Club
Blues
Various Genres
Historic Scoot Inn | Paramount Theater | Scholz Garten and Saengerrunde Hall
Austin celebrates its rich cultural heritage everyday at these amazing museums and cultural centers.
1855 Neill-Cochran House Museum
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center
George Washington Carver Museum
Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library
Texas Science & Natural History Museum
Texas Military Forces Museum
No trip to Austin is complete without a visit to one or more of these historic homes, buildings, or districts.
French Legation State Historic Site
Gold Dollar Newspaper Building
Six Square: Austin's Black Cultural Heritage District
Teachers State Association of Texas Building
Plan to make a day of it with one of these excellent historical tours of Austin!
For peaceful reflection, consider a stop at one of Austin's historic churches and cemeteries.
David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church
Avenue B Grocery & Market is Austin’s oldest continuously-operated grocery store. Built in 1909, Avenue B offers a unique atmosphere in addition to a deli. They also carry a full line of…
Dirty Martin's Place is considered by many to be an Austin tradition. Known in its early years as Martin’s Kum-Bak after owner John Martin, "Dirty’s," as it is affectionately known, has continued…
Joe Avila's family has been serving its loyal customers for over 75 years. It has become a staple in East Austin since the family business began in 1935. The original business was…
Quality Seafood Market has been an Austin institution since 1938 and its humble beginnings as a stall in Starr's Fruit and Vegetable Market just across the street from the state Capitol. The…
Sam’s Bar-B-Que was started in 1957 by Sam Campbell. Today run by Brian Mays, the restaurant cooks its meat on an indoor brick pit, and specializes in brisket, ribs, mutton, and chicken.
Located just south of the river, Sandy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers is a neighborhood institution famous for its burgers, fries and ice cream treats. Open since May 1946, generations of Austinites have cooled…
Scholz’s is a traditional 19th century German biergarten in the heart of Austin. Biergartens were a social trend that swept across Germany in the 1800s. German families brought this tradition to Texas…
The Tavern was established in 1916 as The Enfield Grocery Store and was modeled after the German public houses of the period. During the Prohibition era, rumor had it that the upstairs…
Ray and Frances Stanish purchased Burkhart’s Motor Dining and reopened as Top Notch Hamburgers in 1971. This family operation became legendary during the Stanish’s 39 years at the helm. In 2010 the…
Since 1948, Cisco's has been an iconic part of Austin's food history. Founded by Rudy "Cisco" Cisneros, the man, according to the owner's website, "who made Huevos Rancheros famous," the restaurant has…
From his humble beginnings as a little boy selling tamales from a push cart, to the owner of one of Austin's most popular and beloved restaurants, Matt's El Rancho is an Austin…
Originally named “The Texan” when it opened in 1924, Austin’s Stephen F. Austin Hotel has been a downtown landmark for over a century. Its Art Deco façade and the stunning interiors reflect…
Austin’s historic Driskill Hotel was completed in 1886. Upon its opening, it was proclaimed by the Austin Daily Statesman newspaper to be “one of the finest hotels in the whole country”. The…
The Hotel San Jose was a thriving motor court during the 1930s. In the 1950s it evolved into a roadside motel, but as South Austin neighborhood changed, it fell into disrepair. In…
In 1925, Jennie Eck Stewart inherited land from her parents in the 1200 block of South Congress. Soon after, she and her husband Earnest began expanding the stores located there. When the…
Known by many as the "last of the true Texas dance halls," the Broken Spoke is a a country music icon. Opened by James White in 1964, the Broken Spoke has been…
The Continental Club opened in 1955 as a supper club. In the decades since, it has become one of Austin's most legendary music venues, featuring roots, rockabilly, country, swing, rock and blues…
Built in 1871, The Scoot Inn is the oldest continuously running beer joint in central Texas. In its early days, "The Scoot" served beer and rations to early pioneers. Today, the Historic…
Opening its doors as the Majestic Theater in October of 1915, the theater served as Austin's stage for the vaudeville circuit. In 1916, the Greatest Escape Artist of All Time - Harry…
Scholz’s is a traditional 19th century German biergarten in the heart of Austin. Biergartens were a social trend that swept across Germany in the 1800s. German families brought this tradition to Texas…
This building houses one of the oldest blues venues in the state. Johnny Holmes founded the establishment in 1945, accommodating African Americans and especially returning soldiers who could not go to other…
Austin's Blanton Museum of Art features a collection of more than 21,000 works and is the home of Ellsworth Kelly's Austin. Visitors can enjoy art from several different eras and genres including…
Named after the heritage-minded former state lieutenant governor Bob Bullock, this museum's four-story rotunda centers on a 40-foot-diameter terrazzo floor of iconic images and a Texas Ranger’s badge embedded in the surface…
In 1892, German sculptor Elisabet Ney built Formosa, a limestone Greek Revival-style studio. There she sculpted prominent Texans, including Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, works which are now displayed in the…
The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural center teaches about Hispanic culture and inspires new generations. Two galleries offer free access to exhibits by Latino artists, while a residency program hosts theatrical…
The Carver Museum and Cultural Center and the Carver Branch Library grew out of one of the first library buildings in Austin, which later became the "colored branch" of the Austin Public…
This library and archive specializes in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the U.S. and Europe. The center houses 36 million written manuscripts, five million photographs, more than 100,000 works…
The LBJ Presidential Library is located on a 30-acre site on the campus of The University of Texas in Austin. Housed at the Library are 45 million pages of historical documents, 650,00…
LA VIDA ARTISTA Mexic-Arte Museum, founded in 1984 by Austin artists Sylvia Orozco, Sam Coronado, and Pio Pulido, is dedicated to the presentation and promotion of Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art…
The Neill-Cochran House Museum is one of the 10 oldest extant buildings in Austin, TX and the only antebellum home fully accessible to the public. Constructed in the countryside, the site today…
The 1936 Texas Centennial spawned the Texas Science & Natural History Museum (formerly the Texas Memorial Museum), which opened in 1939 as Austin’s first state museum. The museum explores natural science through…
The Texas Military Forces Museum recounts the exploits of the Texas National Guard in wars from the Texas Revolution to today. A 1918 mess hall houses thousands of war relics and historic…
Blackshear Elementary School opened in 1891 to provide free public education to African-American children in the community then known as Gregory Town, Blackshear Elementary School was known in earlier years as School…
The Clarksville historic district is one of Austin's oldest African American communities and established neighborhoods. A freedman, Charles Clark, settled the area in 1871, having purchased two acres outside of Austin specifically…
This house was purchased in 1925 by Dr. Charles Yerwood, an African American physician. Later, his daughter, Dr. Connie Yerwood Conner, took ownership, resided in the house and painted it the pink…
One of the oldest houses in Austin, the French Legation State Historic Site opened in 1841 as a home and diplomatic outpost for the French chargé d’affaires to the Republic of Texas…
This two-story building was once home to Reverend Jacob Fontaine’s Gold Dollar newspaper, one of the first black newspapers west of the Mississippi and one of forty-eight commercial black newspapers published in…
GREEK REVIVAL REVIVED The Governor’s Mansion, official residence of the state’s chief executive, was constructed of local Austin brick between 1854 and 1856 for $14,500, with an additional $2,500 appropriated for interior…
Built about 1863, the cabin was the homestead of Henry Green Madison (1843-1912). Madison was a Unionist, president of the Austin chapter of the Union League, and an active participant in Reconstruction…
Huston-Tillotson University is a historically black university (HBCU) that resulted from the 1952 merger of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute, which both date to the 1870s. The campus…
Pioneer Farms (formerly known as Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm) demonstrates the rigors and joys of 19th century farm life. A walking tour includes village square stores, homes and three farms where reenactors tend…
SIX SQUARE MILES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE As a part of its 1928 Master Plan, the City of Austin forced Black residents to live within a 6-Square mile boundary with a goal…
Although currently used as a salon, this modern building designed by John S. Chase served as the first permanent headquarters of the Teachers State Association of Texas. The association, founded in 188…
The 22-acre Capitol lawn offers a respite in downtown Austin and features a monument to the state's early Tejanos. Designed and sculpted by native Texan Armando Hinojosa, a massive slab of granite…
Located in the Tejano neighborhoods of East Cesar Chavez and Holly near downtown Austin, this 4.9-mile self-guided trail features 22 culturally significant sites. The area has long been home to Hispanic residents…
Dedicated in 2016, the newest monument on the State Capitol grounds recognizes the many contributions of African Americans to Texas. The center of the memorial represents emancipation from slavery on June 19…
CAPITAL OF THE CAPITOL The Texas Capitol Visitors Center, located on the grounds of – you guessed it! – the Texas State Capitol, is a natural place to start your visit of…
RED GRANITE MOUNTAIN Take a free guided tour of our state Capitol building, its native red granite making it one of the most impressive public buildings in the nation, and you’ll see…
The Texas Capitol and approximately 22 acres of surrounding grounds and monuments are the physical and symbolic center of government for the State of Texas. To learn more about the grounds, visitors…
This cemetery was established in the late 1800s when burial space set aside for African Americans in Austin's historic Oakwood Cemetery was no longer available. The oldest recorded burial is that of…
This unique structure was designed, constructed and financed by African Americans in 1958 as a new home for the church's congregation that had begun meeting in a blacksmith shop in 1924. The…
Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1926 on a 30-acre parcel to serve Austin’s African American community. It has over 12,000 burials. When Evergreen Cemetery opened in 1926, it would parallel Austin City…
Although the First Colored Baptist Church (now known as First Baptist Church) began as a slave congregation, it was officially organized after the Civil War in 1867 by the Rev. Jacob Fontaine…
In 1839, when Austin was being opened as a site favored for the Capital of the Republic of Texas, a regular burial place was established in what is now the southwest part…
Olivet Baptist Church was one of several notable buildings in Six Square, Austin's Black Cultural Heritage District, that were designed by John S. Chase, the first African American architect licensed in Texas…
Plummers Cemetery was originally a privately-owned cemetery likely established before 1898, the date of the oldest gravestone still standing there. The City of Austin acquired Plummers in 1957 as a condition of…
The historic Black neighborhood neighborhood of Clarksville was settled in 1871 when Charles Clark, a freedman, bought two acres of land on present-day Tenth Street. This formed the nucleus of the community…
HONORING TEXANS Pick just about any cemetery in Texas and you should be able to find someone buried there who’s worthy of an honor or two. You may even have somebody like…
John F. Webber, an Anglo, settled in this area with his African American wife and children after receiving a land grant in 1827. Webber sought to find a place where he and…
This congregation was established at the end of the Civil War for freedmen of the Austin area. It was begun through the efforts of the Rev. Joseph Welch, a white Methodist missionary…
