This timeline brings together lived experiences, local knowledge, and untold stories that have shaped environmental justice in Austin—especially in East Austin and around Huston-Tillotson University. It is not static history—it is a growing, community-authored record that continues to evolve with every voice added.
Human habitation in the Austin area dates back at least 16,000 years. Indigenous groups, including the Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, and Comanche, lived off the region’s natural resources. The Tonkawa frequently gathered at Barton Springs, a key meeting site for multiple tribes. Descendants of these tribes are still here today.
The Mexican government encouraged settlement in Texas through the empresario system, granting land based on family size. Under the Coahuila y Tejas colonization laws (1823 & 1825), settlers received 4,428 acres per family plus 1,107 acres per enslaved person. Although Mexico was moving toward abolition, Anglo settlers circumvented the law by classifying enslaved people as “indentured servants for life” to maintain slavery in Texas.
Mahala Strain, the first known African American, came to Austin with the Muchison Family as a 10 year old girl 4 months after Austin was founded.
After the Civil War, formerly enslaved Black people built thriving communities in Austin. These neighborhoods provided homes, schools, and businesses despite segregation and discrimination. These included: Pleasant Hill, Kincheonville, Barton Springs, Reyna Branch, Masontown, Wheatville, Robertson Hill, Belle Hill, Clarksville, Burditt’s Prairie, Red River Street, West Side, Gregorytown, South Side (Brackenridge), and Horst’s Pasture.
Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University) became the first institution for higher learning in Austin, beginning a legacy of leadership and education in the Black community.
Compromise of 1877 ended reconstruction and enabled states to introduce racial segregation laws. These “Jim Crow” laws Black restricted Black people’s access to public spaces, schools, and resources in Austin and across the South. During this era, resources like the Green Book helped keep Black travelers safe.
The City of Austin government pushed Black residents into East Austin by limiting public services and infrastructure in other areas, reinforcing segregation for decades.
The Texas Civilian Conservation Corps (started under the New Deal) offered jobs for low-income families while providing civic improvements like National Parks. However, the program maintained racial segregation, offering lower incomes to non-white workers.
On October 24, 1952, Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College merged to form Huston-Tillotson College. It would be over a decade later when Huston-Tillotson was designated a Historically Black College.
As the Civil Rights movement swept across the nation, in Austin, the 1950’s and 1960’s saw a new emergence of resistance and solidarity among communities of color. The Brown Berets and Black Panthers worked together to fight racial discrimination and injustice.
New zoning laws designated East Austin as an industrial zone, allowing for polluting facilities to be built next to single-family homes. Combined with redlining practices by banks and real estate agencies, these policies stripped generational wealth from communities of color and led to long-term health and economic disparities.
Built along East Avenue, the construction of Interstate 35 in 1962 reinforced racial segregation in Austin. The highway physically separated East Austin’s Black and Latino communities from downtown and wealthier West Austin, leading to decades of economic and social disparities.
On April 22, 1970, Austin joined the first Earth Day, inspired by growing environmental awareness and disasters like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Organized by students and activists, the event featured rallies, teach-ins, and discussions on pollution, land conservation, and urban sprawl, laying the groundwork for future environmental movements.
The creation of Waterloo Park was framed as a revitalization effort but resulted in the displacement of Black and Brown families and businesses along Red River, continuing Austin’s pattern of racially-driven urban development.
On September 15, 1985, César Chávez spoke at the University of Texas, advocating for a grape boycott to protest the use of toxic pesticides harming farmworkers and consumers. His visit was part of a larger national campaign for labor rights and environmental justice.
For over 35 years, East Austin residents lived next to a 52-acre fuel storage facility, which leaked toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and groundwater. In 1992, the grassroots groups PODER and EAST exposed the violations. Following community organizing and political pressure, the Tank Farm was shut down in 1993.
Austin voters passed the Save Our Springs Ordinance (SOS) to protect Barton Springs and its watershed from harmful development. The ordinance limited impervious cover and pollution. However, related negotiations led to support for the Desired Development Zone.
Austin introduced Smart Growth policies, including the Desired Development Zone (DDZ) and Drinking Water Protection Zone, to guide urban expansion. The DDZ accelerated industrial development in East Austin. Within 10 years, Austin’s Black population had dropped from 12.4% to 7.1%.
Following repeated flooding, the government began buying out homes in Lower Onion Creek, displacing families but reducing future flood risks in the area.
After the closure of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, Austin launched a 700-acre redevelopment plan for a mixed-use, sustainable urban village. The project aimed for affordability and environmental sustainability, but lacked protections to maintain long-term affordability.
After years of activism, the city shut down the Holly Power Plant on September 30, 2007 in response to growing community opposition due to health and safety concerns. The East Austin plant was a major source of nitrogen oxide pollution, fuel spills, and dangerous fires.
The Plaza Saltillo Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Station Area Plan was formally adopted by the Austin City Council on December 11, 2008. While this plan aimed to transform the area into a mixed-use, transit-friendly district, and sustainable urban development, it also contributed to gentrification.
In September 2011, the Bastrop Complex Fire became one of Texas’ most destructive wildfires, burning 34,000+ acres, destroying 1,600+ homes. That same weekend, the Steiner Ranch Fire burned 160 acres and 23 homes.
The Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan set a vision for the city’s growth but faced criticism for excluding low-income residents and communities of color. While the plan addressed zero waste, climate change, and resilience, many Austinites felt it failed to prioritize equity in development and sustainability efforts.
On October 31, 2013, the Halloween Flood sent Onion Creek to a record 41 feet, destroying homes and claiming five lives. Less than two years later, on May 24-25, 2015, the Memorial Day Flood brought extreme rainfall, swelling rivers across Central Texas.
The First Annual Building Green Justice Forum brought together community leaders, environmental advocates, and scholars to discuss environmental justice, sustainability, and grassroots organizing. The event featured workshops, critical discussions, and resources.
In 2011, Huston-Tillotson University was honored by the National Wildlife Federation for its energy-saving and recycling initiatives, including an 80% reduction in municipal waste. In 2015, HT installs 736 solar panels.
In 2017, Earth Day ATX was hosted for the first time at Huston-Tillotson University. The next year, Earth Day Austin made its mission “putting equity at the center of the environmental movement in Central Texas.”
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily life, disproportionately impacting Austin’s most vulnerable people. Health disparities, economic struggles, and access to vaccines became key issues. Community-led efforts, including collaboratives, mutual aid groups and grassroots organizations helped fill gaps. COVID-19 highlighted systemic inequities in healthcare, housing, and emergency response.
CODE Next is shut down when a district court ruling upholds Austin residents’ right to protest zoning changes. CODE Next was the city’s attempt to revise the Land Development Code without a full public process.
Amid nationwide protests for racial justice, Huston-Tillotson University hosted a peaceful demonstration on June 7, 2020. Community members, activists, and students gathered to honor Black lives lost to police violence and call for systemic change in Austin and beyond.
Winter Storm Uri sent Texas into a weeks-long winter shutdown. In Austin, over 60 organizations collaborated with city offices to respond. Widespread statewide failures in energy management and emergency response spurred calls for a more equitable disaster preparedness plan.
On April 12, 2025, the Earth Day ATX festival celebrated 55 years since the first Earth Day in 1970.
Huston-Tillotson University celebrates its 150th Anniversary and legacy as Austin’s oldest institution of higher learning.
The planned I-35 expansion, set to begin in 2026, aims to add lanes and improve traffic flow, but has sparked controversy. Critics argue that the project will displace residents and businesses, increase air pollution, and further entrench economic and racial divisions in Austin. Community organizations are pushing for equitable development and environmental protections, while the city explores mitigation efforts like the Cap-and-Stitch plan to reconnect neighborhoods.
The project is for longtime Austinites and newcomers alike — anyone who has witnessed change in this city, cares about who calls it home, and believes that environmental history is human history. Stories are collected year-round and celebrated each April at Earth Day ATX, where community members place their entries directly on the large-format timeline.
This is history as it should be: community-authored, publicly accessible, and always growing.