Sixth Street Historic District

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.