Saving Austin’s History

Last year I had the pleasure of working with the staff from PBS's History Detectives for the upcoming History Detectives Special Investigations: Texas Servant Girl Murders.  The cast and crew came to Austin last summer; they did a number of…

Unidentified albumen print. One morning before dawn in the summer of 1883, a strange persistent cry echoed through a west Austin neighborhood and caught the attention of two women, Sophia Phillips and Sallie Mack, both of whom lived nearby. They…

Materials in Travis County Archives Collection. The mission of the Travis County Archives is to serve the government and the community of Travis County by documenting, preserving, and making available its records and history. The Travis County Archives documents the…

I am not the first to delve into this mystery.  The first time I opened the drawer of the microfilm cabinet and saw all the small cardboard boxes of microfilm packed snuggly inside, I noticed that the boxes labeled 1885…

1885 locations of the servant girl murders now in Google Maps!

"Officer Sendry reports that someone entered Gov. Ireland's room last night and stole a pair of pants and one dollar in the pockets." -- 17 MAR 1885. Austin Police Calls. Gov. John Ireland The above incident is the perfect metaphor for…