Question: What was Austin’s first suburb?
Answer: Hyde Park. Real estate developer Monroe Shipe established the community in 1891 on property he purchased about 20 blocks north of downtown. Shipe’s Austin Electric Railway Company built an electric streetcar line to Hyde Park, and it expanded to become the state’s second electric streetcar system and the predecessor of the city’s Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The development was partially built on the former site of the State Fair of Texas. A portion of 39th Street follows the southern curve of the fair’s horse racing track.
