“Wallering” Around In Austin’s History
By Martha Ann Hartzog
“The Mantle of Violet Identity: City of the Violet Crown”
April 2026
Long before the booster catchphrase “Live Music Capital of the World” was coined, Austin was known by the more genteel term, “City of the Violet Crown.” Quite a few businesses today sport “violet crown” in their names, like the Violet Crown Coffee Shop in the Crestview Shopping Center and the Violet Crown Theatre on 2nd street downtown. The name is often a slight source of puzzlement for newcomers.
In 1888, the Austin Statesman announced that Austin was set among “hills crowned with violets.” There is indeed a species of wild violets that grow in Texas, but perhaps someone else has seen them. Not this author! Hues of violet and purple often do create a purple haze at sunset over the hills to the west that could be called “a violet crown.” But when did Austin first receive this name? Accounts differ. Some attribute the sobriquet to Austin’s boast of its similarity to Athens, Greece, as a City of Learning. The 6th-century Greek lyric poet Pindar wrote of Athens:
“City of light, with thy violet crown,
beloved of the poets,
thou art the bulwark of Greece.”
Just substitute “Texas” for “Greece” and there you have it!
O’Henry, the nom de plume of the noted short story writer William Sydney Porter, called Austin “City of the Violet Crown” in an 1894 detective story, “Tiqtoq” (shades of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot). O’Henry may have been teasing Austin a bit for its overly ambitious claims that it had ascended the cultural heights of ancient Athens.
O’Henry, author and sometime embezzler, remarked that—
“Austin society is acknowledged to be the wittiest, the most select, and the highest bred to be found southwest of Kansas City.”
Southwest of Kansas City! A high compliment, indeed. Or “damning with faint praise,” as we used to say. (It should be noted here that the Austin History Center has an incredible collection of O’Henry materials, collected by Judge Trueman O’Quinn!) Here’s a sample of just one of the O’Henry collections of short stories in a tattered Modern Library book cover.
In 1917, a promotional booklet, “Austin, Texas: The City of the Violet Crown” was published and included a panegyric poem:
“Proudly thou sittest upon violet crowned hills,
Beautifully serene thy shady dales and rills;
Austin, wondrous fair art thou, in beauty thou wilt stand
As age on age old Time rolls on thy glories to expand”
Narnie Hillary Harrison
The pamphlet included information on Austin’s Thriving Industries, Beautiful Homes, Educational and State Institutions, Scenic Views, and so forth. An undated second booklet, full of wonderful, historic photographs, proclaims that Austin is “A Modern 20th Century City.” Indeed!
In the 1920s, the “Violet Crown San Sam Festival,” was held, a quirky name in honor of both the Battle of San Jacinto and its hero, Sam Houston. Since Old Sam wanted to move the state capitol away from Austin to Houston, the festival’s name is quite ironic. (Dear Reader, the “San Sam Festival” will be covered in another column.)
Today, the mantle of violet identity has been taken up by the neighborhoods of Brentwood and Crestview situated between Burnet Road and North Lamar. In the 1940s, two entrepreneurs, Dr. Joe Koenig and Clarence McCullough, developed a subdivision which they called “Violet Crown Heights.” Brentwood and Crestview are known for their annual Violet Crown Festival and publish a newsletter, “Voices of the Violet Crown” (www.violetcrownvoices.com). There’s even a connection to our own beloved Matthew McConaughey! In Richard Linklater’s 1993 breakout film, Dazed and Confused, featuring a young McConaughey, the Violet Crown Shopping Center was called “The Emporium.”
Austin is proud of its many neighborhoods as our city planners have discovered, sometimes to their dismay. In 2008, the Brentwood and Crestview neighborhoods erected a fabulous 120-ft.- long mosaic wall at 7100 Woodrow Avenue. It proudly announces “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” It was designed by artist and Brentwood resident, Jean Graham. The mural is easy to miss, but well worth a look-see for its many charming details, homages to the proud history of the two neighborhoods.
Jean Graham’s cunningly crafted mural pays homage to neighborhood institutions, from the dancing pig, to the two founders and their Oldsmobile, to the still thriving Crestview Shopping Center itself. Immortalized are Lala’s with its proud pink poodle, the Chief Drive-In Theatre, Top Notch Hamburgers, and Theadgill’s, where the seeds of the Armadillo World Headquarters were sown. A wavy violet river runs throughout.
This year’s Violet Crown Festival takes place on May 2, 2026 at Brentwood Park. Plan to join in the fun! See https://www.violetcrowncommunity.org/vcf_2026.
As a final note, the sky west of Austin often does appear purple at sunset toward the Hill Country. A new phenomenon, likely unforeseen by the early visionaries, is the wall of steel-blue high-rises looming over downtown Austin. If you drive east off the MoPac at just the right time of an early evening, to skirt Lady Bird Lake following the originally named Water Street (renamed First Street, then Caesar Chavez Street, and now being renamed), the towers reflect the sunsetting sky to create quite another “Violet Crown” skyline. Give it a try!
The magic of Austin shines on. . . .
Sources:
The Austin History Center and its Welcoming Staff
ATXplained, “Why are so many places in Austin named Violet Crown?” by Juan Diego Garcia, April 10, 2025, https://www.kut.org/2025-04-10
“Voices of the Violet Crown” newsletter (www.violetcrownvoices.com).
Violet Crown Festival for 2026 (https://www.violetcrowncommunity.org/vcf_2026).
Wikipedia: “City of the Violet Crown” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_the_Violet_Crown)
