Flip the cards to learn about the 5th St Corridor & District
El Pajaro
Informed by the Oaxacan Barro Negro ceramic tradition and aesthetic, BLACKBIRD was designed by Holly Young-Kincannon and carved by Joseph Drummond Kincannon. Young-Kincannon describes the inspiration for the statue as being multi-layered but ultimately rooted in the idea of “[flight] without fear.”
La Susana
Susanna Dickinson survived the Battle of the Alamo and informed Sam Houston of the battle, earning her the nickname “Messenger of the Alamo.” The house her husband built for her, along with rare family artifacts, was preserved and given to the City of Austin in 2003. The Susanna Dickinson Museum is now one of the Brush Square Museums.
Los Héros
These bronze busts were gifted to Austin by the state of Coahuila and depict two Mexican revolutionaries, José Morelos y Pavón and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Considered founding fathers of an independent Mexico, both were Catholic priests who fought for social reform.
La Plaza Saltillo
Named for Austin’s sister city, Plaza Saltillo is inspired by the plazas popular throughout Mexico. Plaza Saltillo is the eastern anchor of the 5th Street Mexican American Heritage Corridor and District and serves as a popular meeting place, metro station, and shopping center.
Los Tamales
Walker’s Aus-Tex Chili Factory produced up to 38,000 tamales per hour with their automatic tamale-making machine, making tamales a symbol of the area. Outside of the factory, tamales were sold by street vendors.
El Corredor
Since 2010, Mexic-Arte Museum and its supporters have worked to create, develop, and garner support for the 5th Street Mexican American Heritage Corridor and District. The area is surrounded by significant historic, cultural, and community sites deserving of both preservation and active use.
La Fabrica de Chile
Located in the heart of downtown Austin, Walker’s Aus-Tex Chili Factory at one point employed 15% of Austin’s Mexican population. The factory operated from 1900 to 1972, with a brief pause from 1916 to 1918 to rebuild after a fire.
Los Tonkawas
Consistently helpful and friendly to Texas settlers, the Tonkawa Tribe is indigenous to Austin. In the 19th century, they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma, where they now number approximately 800.
El Roble del Tratado
The only remaining tree of the Council Oaks, the 500 year old Treaty Oak was allegedly the site of the meeting between Stephen F. Austin and local Native American tribes to negotiate Texas’s boundaries.
Los Bomberos
Operated by the Austin Fire Museum Hook & Ladder Society, the Austin Fire Museum is a Brush Square Museum highlighting the evolution of uniforms and procedures, along with other memorabilia.
El Museo
Mexic-Arte Museum was founded in 1984 by artists Sylvia Orozco, Sam Coronado, and Pio Pulido. The Museum is dedicated to enriching the community through education programs, exhibitions, and the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture for visitors of all ages.
La Iglesia
The Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church was built in the early 20th century to give Mexican Americans a place to worship without being discriminated against. The church also had an accompanying school that educated hundreds of Mexican American youth.
El Escritor
William Sidney Porter was a famed short story writer of classics such as “Gifts of the Magi,” written while he was in prison for embezzlement. The pen name “O’Henry” now lends itself to his family home, which preserves many artifacts from his life.
El Mero Muro
The Mexic-Arte Museum’s El Mero Muro is a mural program located on the exterior wall of the building on 5th St. and Congress Ave. Conveying powerful messages of relevant social issues, the outdoor murals of the Museum are in a unique and highly visible area of downtown Austin.
Los Robles de Subasta
The first 301 lots that would become the city of Austin were sold under these centuries-old oak trees in 1839. The now iconic trees serve today to provide shade to Austinites and tourists alike.
Los Dulces
“Los Dulces” represent the street vendors popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, who sold everything from candy to pastries to tamales. These vendors frequented Republic Square, known as Chili Park then.
Flip to learn about the Cross Streets along 5th St
El Comal
“Comal” is an Aztec Nahuatl word for a ceramic pan.
La Guadalupe
The river was first called after Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe by Alonso de León in 1689. It was renamed the San Augustin by Domingo Terán de los Ríos who maintained a colony on it, but the name Guadalupe persisted.
La Vaca
The Lavaca River was named for the bison that initially inhabited the area.
Las Nueces
The Nueces River was named because of the numerous pecan trees along the banks.
Los Pedernales
“Pedernales” is a Spanish word for the flint typically found in riverbeds.
Los Brazos
The Brazos River was named for being the saving fresh water for several groups of settlers, prompting the name “the arms of God.”
Los Rios
The 2024 version of Mexic-Arte’s Cinco de Mayo luncheon highlights the streets, named after Texas rivers that intersect with 5th St.
El Rio Grande
The fourth longest river in the United States, the Rio Grande starts in Colorado and ends in the Gulf of Mexico.
El Colorado
The Colorado river runs right through Downtown Austin. The Concho, San Saba, Llano, James, and Pedernales Rivers all empty into the Colorado.
San Jacinto
The San Jacinto River flows through southeast Texas. It is named after Saint Hyacinth. In the past, it was home to the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes.
La Leona
San Antonio
San Saba
San Marcos
