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Progress Report Austin: The Legends of Austin 2
Gordon Wilkison
Sound
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1962
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B/W
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English
  • Map
  • Highlights
    Congress Avenue
    Paramount Theatre
    Moonlight towers
    Goddess of Liberty
    Texas A+M
    Austin public high schools
    Pease Elementary School
    John T. Allen
    Chisholm Trail, Peter Preston Ackley
    Montopolis Bridge
    Millett Opera House
    6th street, Hennings building
    F.M. Beaty's Carriage Repository
    Avenue Hotel
    Martin and Martin Opera House bar
    Driskill Hotel
    West 29th Street, c. 1931
    Achillies Store, 16th and Guadalupe, c. 1932
    Goodman Store, c. 1932
    Lamar Boulevard, c. 1941
    6th and Congress, c. 1942
    Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, c. 1934
    Mrs. Jacob (Martha) Bickler
    Captain Frank Hawks, Mayor Tom Miller, Max Bickler, Nov. 1935
    Governor James V. Allred
    Postman Ray Lee, February 6, 1940
    Austin trolley Cars, c. 1905
    Hyde Park trolley, c. 1880s
    First trolley across Congress Ave. bridge, Dec. 2, 1910
    Dismantling trolley tracks, May 27, 1940
    Last trolleys on main line, February 7, 1940
    New buses in Austin
    Austin on Circus day
    President McKinley visit, parade
    Austin, c. 1887
    Market house, fire station, city hall, c. 1898
    Austin courthouse, c. 1900
    Old courthouse demolished, 3rd and Guadalupe, August 1932
    New Travis County courthouse, c. 1932
    Travis County courthouse, c. 1942
    New Federal building groundbreaking, 8th and Colorado, March 17, 1934
    Congressman James Buchanan, photograph taken by LBJ, c. 1935
    Joe Mackey, September, 1935
    New Federal building, 8th and Lavaca, February 22, 1936
    Gov. James V. Allred swearing in ceremony, Coke Stevenson
    Gov. Lee O. Daniel
    Snow at the Texas state captial, January 22, 1940
    Homes of governors: Elisha M. Pease, Allan Shivers, Edmund J. Davis, Joseph D. Sayers, Andrew J. Hamilton, Oran M. Roberts
    Mrs. Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson
    Jay Nottington, the Horrells and Higgins feud
    Sam Bass, Bill Longley
    Austin Chamber of Commerce
    Paramount Theatre
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Take a look at the "legends and history of our town" in this episode of the locally produced television program, Progress Report Austin.
  • Gordon Wilkison
    Gordon Wilkison began work as a cameraman at the local Austin television station KTBC (now FOX 7) during 1952, its first year of operation.  At the time the station was owned by the Texas Broadcasting Company, which was owned by Senator Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson. This relationship would continue to shape Wilkison's career well into the next decades - during the Johnson administration, Wilkison covered the president's visits to Texas, preparing material for national and international news correspondents.    A particularly notable moment is his career occurred on August 1, 1966, when Wilkison and KTBC reporter Neal Spelce risked their lives to capture footage of the Tower shooting at the University of Texas.    Wilkison was also the General Manager of Photo Processors at the LBJ Broadcasting Corporation, which he later took over and renamed Cenetex Film Labs. In addition to his camera work and film processing, his work at the station also included direction of a number of television film productions.   Outside of KTBC, Wilkison shot, edited, and processed Longhorn football game footage for the University of Texas, a partnership that lasted nearly 30 years.       Recognizing the historical value of film and news footage, Wilkison kept the material, later contributing hundreds of reels to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image's collection.
  • The Driskill Hotel
    The Driskill Hotel was opened by cattle baron Jesse Lincoln Driskill in 1886 as a showpiece for the emerging capital city of Austin. A luxurious building with arched entryways and limestone features, the grand hotel was reminiscent of the palaces in New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. It quickly became the place to throw lavish Governor's balls and host international dignitaries. Jesse Driskill was forced to sell the hotel in 1888 due to a severe drought that cost him his fortune. After years of being traded and sold, the Driskill's fifth owner, Major George W. Littlefield, vowed the hotel would never close again and initiated a $60,000 renovation in 1895.    President Lyndon Baines Johnson had his first date with his future wife, Lady Bird, in the downstairs dining room of the Driskill in 1934. This marked the beginning of the Johnsons' lifelong love for the hotel. In the 1950s, the Johnsons rented suites at the Driskill to serve as the offices of their news station, KTBC. It was also the site of Lyndon's campaign headquarters, where they awaited election results for both the vice-presidential and presidential elections, and the couple frequented their own presidential suite during his presidency.   After a planned rennovation falling through, the Driskill Hotel faced demolition in 1969. The Heritage Society of Austin strived to get the building recognized as a historic landmark and succeeded. A series of fundraising campaigns amounting to over $700,000 allowed for the hotel to reopen in 1972, and it has been in operation since that time. Known as one of the most haunted hotels in the country, ghostly spirits have been reported roaming the old hallways, including Jesse Driskill himself!
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