History Detectives Special Investigations

July 7, 2014 · JRG

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 interviews and on location videos and I got to chat with the esteemed Tukufu Zuberi, who was very enthusiastic and a lot of fun to work with. I’m looking forward to seeing what they discovered! Tuesday, July 15, 9pm / 8pm central on PBS.

Discovering History at the Travis County Archives

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…

Saving Austin's History

Saving Austin's History A short film by Alpheus Media. ______________________________

Google Maps

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

Robinson Residence. Scene of West Austin Crime Spree. May 1, 1885

The Robinson ResidenceCourtesy DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, Ag2008.0005. Many people must have been aroused between one and two o'clock by a rapid discharge of fire arms on Rio Grande street, near its intersection with Pecan. This…

The Austin Axe Man -- Chloroform

Once there was a killer in nearby Austin who was still at large. He had chloroformed his victim (rather humanely, I thought) before chopping her head off with an axe. Fear that ‘dat debblish axe-man’ might strike again, in only…

H.B. Barnhart Gets the Credit

Austin native Henry B. Barnhart, was a successful attorney in 1885. He was appointed Travis County Attorney in 1886. An 1887 description of Barnhart’s career included the following passage: With uncompromising firmness, he has made successful war upon evil…