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Austin Hotels and Visitor Information
Region: Texas
State: Texas
Population: 656,562
Elevation: 550 ft
Area Code(s): 512
Information: Austin Visitor Center: 209 E. Sixth St., Austin, TX 78701; phone (512) 478-0098 or (866) 462-8784.
Email: tpearson@austintexas.org Web: www.austintexas.org
Area Description:
The City of Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Austin has a population of 656,562 people, making it the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th largest in the United States. Situated in the region of Central Texas, the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area is one of the fastest-growing in the United States. Residents of Austin are known as Austinites.
In the fall of 1839, Republic of Texas president Mirabeau Lamar charged a delegation of five horsemen with finding the best place for the capital. Their choice was the small, remote community of Waterloo on the north bank of the Colorado where the river cascades down the Balcones Escarpment. The next year the legislature confirmed the selection and renamed it in honor of Stephen F. Austin, colonizer of the first American settlement in Texas.
The city bills itself as "live music capital of the world," no idle boast considering the numerous musical events held year-round. What's more, downtown's East Sixth Street is packed with bars, restaurants and intimate music venues where everything from blues to country to punk rock can be heard. The Warehouse District, which is bounded roughly by Sixth and Third streets on the north and south, Guadalupe Street on the west and Congress Avenue on the east, is another entertainment hot spot.
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