Sixth Street (Austin, Texas)

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Sixth Street is a historic street and entertainment area in Austin, Texas located within the downtown area of â€‹â€‹downtown Austin. Sixth Street was previously named Pecan Street under the older naming convention in Austin, which has east-west streets named after trees and a north-south road named after the Texas river (the last convention remained at the place).

The area of â€‹â€‹nine blocks of East Sixth Street is approximately between Lavaca Street to the west and Interstate 35 to the east is recognized as the Sixth Street Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1975. Developed as one of the Commercial and Commercial Zones of Austin on late 1800s, the dominant building style is a two or three-story Victorian commercial architecture. Most of the structures in the area had been built in the 1880s, although some exceptions included Driskill Hotel (1886), Scarbrough Building (1910), and Littlefield Building.

The area around 4th Street and 6th Street has been the main entertainment district since the 1970s. Many bars, clubs, music venues and shopping destinations are located on East 6th Street between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35, and many offer live music at one time or another during the week. Traffic is generally blocked on East 6th Street and part of the crossroads from I-35 to Brazos Street on weekend nights, and home football games (depending on pedestrian traffic), as well as holidays and special events, to allow crowds to walk without boundaries to many places lined the streets.

East Sixth Street (locally known as Kotor Keenam) plays host to various events every year, from music and film festivals (such as South by Southwest) to biker rallies (like The Republic of Texas Biker Rally) and Pecan Street Festival.

The Sixth Street area west of Lavaca is known as the 6th Street West District. Recently, a movement has evolved to develop this area as a separate entertainment area, directed to a live-music crowd.

Video Sixth Street (Austin, Texas)

History

Austin is planned on a 15-block grid plan developed by Edwin Waller that is split by Congress Avenue running north-south. The Bastrop Highway that linked the city to the previous settlement in East Texas was mapped in 1839 and chose a route to Austin along Pecan Street. The post train followed this route when it arrived in Austin in 1840, and used the Bullock Hotel in the northwest corner of Pecan and Congress as a stage stop. The Bullock, built in 1839 by Richard Bullock, is a log building complex that serves as an informal and informal meeting place in Austin for several years. The special intersection quickly became the focal point of city life.

The city grows like a cross-Congressional Congress and Pecan. Pecan has a clear advantage for development. The road was far enough from the river to avoid flooding, which sometimes spread to Cypress Street, and that was the last east-west road flat enough for the carts and pedestrians to travel comfortably. Following the explosive growth in city populations between 1850 and 1860, Pecan soon contained not only beam and block houses, but also fenced with wagon bases, livery cages, and saloons to meet travelers' needs. Austin's first bridge was built to carry Pecan Street at Shoal Creek in 1865, though a narrow iron bridge, built by the United States Army, could not carry train traffic.

When the Civil War interrupted the growth of Sixth Street in the 1860s, the next two centuries were the sixth peak of Center Street as a commercial center. The arrival of the railway in 1871 greatly benefited Sixth Street, as some of Austin's most prestigious business establishments were located near the train depot. Many along the road are in great demand and the fine two-and-three Victorian limestone commercial structures begin lining the streets where single-storey buildings or vacant lots. In 1887, a larger new bridge at Shoal Creek was built to match the width of the Sixfold Walkway by 80 feet (24 m) and allow the wagon to cross; The West Sixth Street Bridge is still in use today, and has since been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

During the 1880s, however, Congress Avenue began to precede Sixth Street as the most fashionable shopping destination in town. The new Capitol building is being built at the head of Congress and most of the catering business for city dwellers and/or clients of state governments moved to Congress locations. Sixth Street, though, continues to serve as a site for offices, warehouses, and business showrooms by train, as well as for catering businesses for farmers or other travelers. In 1886, the famous four-story Driskill Hotel finished at 122 E. 6th Street. Called "the best hotel in south St. Louis", the hotel was built in the Romanesque Revival style by Jesse Driskill, a rancher who spent his fortune building it.

Scarbrough and Hicks department stores, founded in the southwest corner of 6th and Congress in 1893, decided to remain in the same location in 1909 when he undertook the construction of the first modern skyscraper in Austin; Scarbrough Building is an eight-story brick building in Commercial style. George Littlefield chose the northeast corner of the intersection in 1911 to build a 9-storey brick and limestone that would be built to build his American Bank.

The biracial character proved along Sixth Street during this period of development, although it became more apparent in the 1890s and early 1900s. For example, a black doctor has offices in 300 blocks of East Sixth, and some businesses on the north side of 400 and 500 blocks are operated by blacks and serve the Austin black community. At the beginning of the 20th century, racial and ethnic diversity has become one of the most prominent features of Sixth Street. Lebanese business also began appearing on 6th Street in the 1890s. One of Lebanon's first immigrants to Austin, Cater Joseph, opened a cake shop in Congress in the 1880s. The Joseph family still maintains business on East 6th Street, as did several other Lebanese and Syrian families who established business there in the early 20th century. In 1940, businesses on 6th Street were owned by blacks, Jews, Germans, Chinese, and Mexican-Americans, as well.

The continuous erosion of commercial interests of the East 6th Street area occurred in the 1940s and was particularly accelerated after World War II. The growth of second-hand shops, chain stores and discounts served low-income customers, followed by an increase in the number of vacated buildings. The skid atmosphere was built in the 1950s and 1960s by the large number of pawn shops, lending companies and bars in the area. However, a number of owner-operated businesses keep the area alive for commercial activities.

One of the last residents on Sixth Street was the local architect David Graeber. Graeber bought the building at 410 E. 6th Street and made it his family's residence until he died in 2010. The building is famous as the last building on Sixth Street to be used exclusively as the primary residence. The interior of the modern building for the moment, including an indoor swimming pool, and substantial sound mitigation.

The Ritz, a historic theater, opened its doors at 320 E. 6th Street in 1929. Throughout its history, the Ritz was used as a cinema, music room, club, comedy house, and more. It reopened after a renovation in the fall of 2007 as a new downtown location for Alamo Drafthouse. On March 20, 2007, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announced that they will relocate theaters in their city center, which was the original theater that opened in 1997, to the Ritz. They started construction on April 1, 2007, to revive the Ritz as a cinema.

Since May 2014, parking restrictions take effect from Thursday night to Saturday night in the entertainment area (Interstate 35 to San Jacinto Street) ending at 2 am past midnight defined as Sunday based on 24 hour hours) - plan to make Sixth Street district free was considered before the drunken incident of driving SXSW '14 in March where several pedestrians were hit.

Maps Sixth Street (Austin, Texas)

Festival Pecan Street

Until the 1970s, Sixth Street suffered a setback and the downtown was sparsely inhabited, with abandoned buildings littered. The Austin pioneering group, including Dr. Emma Lou Linn, known as the Old Pecan Street Association, was instrumental in reclaiming downtown space and beginning renovations of old buildings. Such associations require adequate funding for the cost of restoration and realizing street fair to life is the solution to their problems.

In 1978, the Pecan Street Festival began and included local food vendors and art along with bands from the surrounding area, establishing community events for cultural preservation and creativity. Due to the positive presence of the festival, the celebration became a biennial spring and fall tradition, honoring the original name of 6th Street, Pecan Street. In the past, the event has attracted over 300,000 people, generating an economic impact of approximately $ 43 million in 2010.