<P> Shortly after the election of President Mirabeau B. Lamar, the Texas Congress appointed a site - selection commission to locate an optimal site for a new permanent capital . They chose a site on the western frontier, after viewing it at the instruction of President Lamar, who visited the sparsely settled area in 1838 . Lamar was a proponent of westward expansion . Impressed by its beauty, abundant natural resources, promise as an economic hub, and central location in Texas territory, the commission purchased 7,735 acres (3,130 ha) along the Colorado River comprising the hamlet of Waterloo and adjacent lands . </P> <P> Because the area's remoteness from population centers and its vulnerability to attacks by Mexican troops and Native Americans displeased many Texans, Sam Houston among them, political opposition made Austin's early years precarious ones . However, Lamar prevailed in his nomination, which he felt would be a prime location that intersected the roads to San Antonio and Santa Fe . </P> <P> Officially chartered in 1839, the Texas Congress designated the name of Austin for the new city . According to local folklore, Stephen F. Austin, the "father of Texas" for whom the new capital city was named, negotiated a boundary treaty with the local Native Americans at the site of the present - day Treaty Oak after a few settlers were killed in raids . After the republic purchased several hundred acres to establish the city, Lamar renamed it in honor of Stephen F. Austin in March 1839 . The city's original name is honored by local businesses such as Waterloo Ice House and Waterloo Records, as well as Waterloo Park downtown . </P> <P> Lamar tapped Judge Edwin Waller to direct the planning and construction of the new town . Waller chose a 640 - acre (260 ha) site on a bluff above the Colorado River, nestled between Shoal Creek to the west and Waller Creek (which was named for him) to the east . Waller surveyed a grid plan on a single square - mile plot with 14 blocks running in both directions . One grand avenue, which Lamar named "Congress", cut through the center of town from Capitol Square down to the Colorado River . The streets running north - south (paralleling Congress) were named for Texas rivers with their order of placement matching the order of rivers on the Texas state map . The east - west streets were named after trees native to the region, despite the fact that Waller had recommended using numbers . (They were eventually changed to numbers in 1884 .) The city's perimeters stretched north to south from the river at 1st Street to 15th Street, and from East Avenue (now Interstate 35) to West Avenue . Much of this original design is still intact in downtown Austin today . </P>

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