Downtown Buda Historic District

Buda's downtown is a six-block commercial strip on the west side of the railroad tracks, about 13 miles south of Austin. The town was founded in 1881 when the railroad arrived, and Main Street has served as its commercial center ever since. The district holds 37 resources, 28 of them contributing, including one- and two-part brick and limestone stores built from the late 1890s to the mid-1920s, plus several frame houses, garages and outbuildings. Among the highlights are the 1898 limestone store on Main Street, built with local Buda limestone, and rows of attached commercial buildings in Blocks 2, 3 and 4. Buda never grew as large as its founders hoped, but its cotton-based farm economy supported steady building through the 1920s, when drought, flooding and boll weevils hurt the crop. The district is described as a representative example of a Texas railroad town, with consistent building height, massing, setback and street orientation that preserve a strong sense of place.