Fun Facts About Austin, TX

As the saying goes, “Keep things weird” in Austin, but while you’re at it, don’t forget to discover the fun facts about Austin. It’s a beautiful city that many people are proud to call home, and others look forward to visiting year after year. How much do you really know about Austin? You may know those things that are widely discussed, but there are a few things about the city that many people don’t know or have never heard about the place they live.

Here are a few fun facts to remember about Austin:

• Austin was originally named Waterloo when the city was officially chosen as the new capital of the Republic of Texas.

• Humans have lived in the Austin area since 9200 BC.

• Until late in the Cretaceous Period, the area that makes up Austin today was completely underwater and home to 10 underwater volcanoes that geologists call “explosion craters.” That’s why many of Austin’s cliffs are crumbly, whitish rock known as “Austin Chalk.”

• Forbes named Austin as the fastest growing large city in the United States.

• Austin is 225 miles from the U.S./Mexico border.

• Austin is the only city in the world known to still operate a system of Moonlight Towers, 165 ft. tall structures from the 19th century to light up the city at night.

• With 200 live music venues and as many as 2,000 bands and performing artists, Austin is considered the Live Music Capital of the World.

• Every spring and summer about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats migrate to Austin, giving the city North America’s largest urban bat colony.

• Whole Foods began in Austin in 1978 when 25-year-old college dropout John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy borrowed $45,000 to open a small natural foods store.

• Austin is home to America’s only Formula 1 race, the United States Grand Prix.