{"nrhp_refnum":"75002132","name":"Sixth Street Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Driscill Hotel","U.S. Post Office and Federal Buildin"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by 5th, 7th, Lavaca Sts. and I-35","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.267409117000057,"lon":-97.73996604846175,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-12-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Black","European","Hispanic","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nine-block commercial historic district in downtown Austin, Travis County, Texas, centered on East 6th Street between Interstate 35 and Congress Avenue, with extensions along West 6th and parts of East 5th and Trinity Street. It consists mainly of Victorian masonry commercial buildings from the last three decades of the 19th century.","why_significant":"The district holds a large, cohesive concentration of two- and three-story Victorian commercial buildings in local limestone and light brick. It also includes landmark buildings such as the Driskill Hotel, the 1878 Federal Building, the 1912 Post Office and Austin's first skyscrapers. Its history reflects Austin's commercial growth, the multi-ethnic character of its businesses, and a revival through restoration begun in the late 1960s and early 1970s.","narrative":"Austin's Sixth Street district covers about nine blocks of downtown, mainly East 6th Street from Interstate 35 to Congress Avenue, plus a western stretch with two former federal buildings. Most buildings are two- or three-story masonry stores from the 1870s to 1890s. Local cream-colored limestone and light brick give the street a consistent appearance, with segmental arched windows, metal or brick cornices and some cast-iron detail. Larger landmarks include the 1886 Richardsonian Romanesque Driskill Hotel, the 1878 Renaissance Revival Federal Building, the 1912 Classical Revival Post Office, and the Scarbrough and Littlefield buildings, early tall structures at Congress Avenue. From the 1890s, businesses owned by Lebanese, Jewish, German, Chinese, Black and Mexican American families added to the street's variety. Commercial decline followed the 1940s, but a local architect's 1968 townhouse restoration began a wave of reuse as restaurants, shops and homes. Some intrusions remain, including a bank tower, a drive-in bank and a parking lot.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James G. Hill (Supervising Architect) and contractor Abner Cook for the 1878 Federal Building; John Knox Taylor (Supervising Architect's office) for the 1912 Post Office","architectural_style":"Victorian commercial; Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne, Renaissance Revival and Classical Revival examples","criteria":[],"status_note":"Many buildings are in use as restaurants, shops, offices and housing. Several have been restored since 1968, others have altered storefronts, and one block is a parking lot.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.42794-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/9737/40973709/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/75002132.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002132/c56221ef16-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002132/c56221ef16-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sixth_Street_Austin.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973709","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109774598"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/sixth-street-historic-district-75002132/"}