The West Line Historic District is a residential community in central

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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. The district encompasses an approximately 90-block tract of land located west of downtown. Bounded by Baylor Street to the east, Fifth Street to the south, Thirteenth Street to the north and

Texas State Highway Loop 1 Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to the west. It is located south of the Old West Austin Historic District and southeast of the Clarksville Historic District. The district comprises more than twenty-five subdivisions platted between 1871 and 1948, out of the George W. Spear League and Division Z of the government lands west of the original city center. Early settlement in the area consisted of expansive estates, later subdivided in response to the city's burgeoning population. After the 1887 construction of the West Sixth Street Bridge over Shoal Creek, the West Sixth Street streetcar line, commonly referred to as the West Line, extended into the district from downtown and facilitated the development of suburban tracts. Due to the piecemeal development and hilly topography of the area, the streets form an irregular rectilinear grid. A number of notable nineteenth-century residences and institutional buildings exist throughout the district, but the preponderance of resources consist of Craftsman and

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

-influenced

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a bu ...

built during the height of the area's development from the 1910s-1930s. In keeping with the original developers’ intentions, the historic district maintains strong residential characteristics. The area was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005. It includes the neighborhoods of Raymond Heights, Raymond Plateau and Shelley Heights.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Neighborhoods in Austin, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas