The difference between then and now is just so drastic. Just 10yrs makes all the difference.
My first job out of college (in 2000) was a small telco provider and we were in those buildings on the north side of the street (306 E 3rd). The small tan brick building next to the "parking lot" was out telco equipment. To the left, what became the red door, was our storage space and a small bathroom. Across the street, where Fogo de Chao is, was the warehouse for Louis Shanks furniture. The Vince Young Steakhouse space was in the process of being cleaned up to be tech offices (Tech Space), but that was partially complete by the time the dot-com bust hit. It later became the MTV Real World Austin house.
So many memories. Interesting place to work for a young kid.
I bought my first digital camera in 2001 and was recently browsing through the early shots of downtown. The street views on the west/southwestern end of downtown were almost unrecognizable.
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Austin.Texas.USA
Home of the 2005 National Champion Texas Longhorns
Calling Kevin, Ahealy, Mopacs and other friends to help me identify these....
I came across a handful of these pics that my mother took decades ago. I "think" these were taken downtown during the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial celebration, but I'm not sure. This was a downtown parade right off Congress Ave. The State Capitol is wrapped in a big yellow bow and many military personnel were in the parade.
Does that description ring any bells? I would've been about 12 years old if so, but I can't seem to remember much about it. We didn't go downtown very often except for a special event.
And for kicks I threw in a pic of what appears to be a Girl Scout parade downtown circa 1981 (my sister was in GS).
Calling Kevin, Ahealy, Mopacs and other friends to help me identify these....
I came across a handful of these pics that my mother took decades ago. I "think" these were taken downtown during the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial celebration, but I'm not sure. This was a downtown parade right off Congress Ave. The State Capitol is wrapped in a big yellow bow and many military personnel were in the parade.
Does that description ring any bells? I would've been about 12 years old if so, but I can't seem to remember much about it. We didn't go downtown very often except for a special event.
Four months after the planning began and more than 100 days after the war ceased, the Capitol Salute to Texas Troops a weeklong extravaganza of tributes, parades and exhibits has, at last, arrived. The welcome mat is unrolled, the flags unfurled. The Capitol dome is draped in a yellow ribbon big enough to hug a battalion. Austin is ready for the troops, ready for the armored carriers, the jets, the tanks, the missiles ready for a sprawling show certain to elicit cheers and tears, dancing, protesting and a lot of flag-waving.
Wish I knew how to post a short video (27 seconds) of my wife (As the drum major) leading the Taylor High School band up Congress Avenue in a 1963 parade.
She thinks it was the Texas Independence Day event.
Chase Bank Tower with the gold glass and the Bank of America Center under construction. The Bank of America Center is one of the few steel framed skyscrapers in Austin.
It was a decades long slow start, but that gold Chase Bank Tower is where it all began imo. The completion of that tower must have been exciting to highrise fans back in the day. Quite modern and elegant at the time. Wish it still looked that way. I wonder given the steel beam construction how much faster BoA tower went up than if it was poured concrete. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like the garage was cement with the steel beams on top. Even back then, they found a way to hide it well.
I went to a lunch meeting in the Headliners’ Club at the gold bank tower 40 years ago.
I recall a couple of out oftown visitors looking out the window remarking what an “ugly downtown” it was, almost like a ghost town.
There were a lot of boarded up businesses on Congress Avenue at that time.
823 Congress under construction there. Nice. And the Mutual Savings Building. It's always hard to believe that's the same building that's there today - now 1005 Congress. The building had several floors added and the facade was completely redone.
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. I appreciate your insight.
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