Congress Avenue
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Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas USA. The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Town Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart of downtown.
The Congress Avenue Bridge over Town Lake houses the world's largest urban bat population. When the bridge was refurbished in the 1980s, the new design created crevices underneath the structure that were ideal for bats to roost in. In the summer, the colony has up to 1.5 million Mexican Free-tailed Bats. The bats migrate to Mexico for the winter.
History
Edwin Waller, the first mayor of Austin, designed Congress Avenue to be Austin's most prominent street. Early structures along Congress Avenue included government buildings, hotels, saloons, retail stores and restaurants. By the late 1840s "The Avenue" formed a well-established business district. The mid-1870s introduced gaslight illumination and mule-driven streetcars as well as construction of a new Travis County courthouse at Eleventh Street. The present Texas Capitol at the north end of Congress Avenue was built in 1883-1988. The original dirt street was bricked in 1910. Trolley cars operated on the Avenue until 1940.Recognition
In recognition of its architectural and historical significance, Congress Avenue from First Street to the Capitol was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.External links
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