The Texas Archives War

In 1839, Texas President Mirabeau Lamar authorized Congress to establish the new city of Austin, which was intended to become the Texas capital. As Austin grew and became the hub of central Texas, troops moved the new country’s archives and constitution from Houston to Austin.

In 1842, Texas President Sam Houston feared a takeover of Austin by Mexican troops that were invading the region. He ordered his Secretary of War to relocate the countries archives back to Houston. After this order, a group of Austinites convened and determined that, no matter what it took, Austin would indeed be safe from invasion and feared that removal of the documents would create a lack of confidence in the young city.

On December 30th, 1842, Angelina Eberly, a local business owner, noticed troops working to remove the archives from the General Land Office in Austin. In an attempt to protect documents and her city’s reputation, she fired a Howitzer Cannon at President Houston’s troops. The troops quickly moved toward what is now Bastrop, where the rest of the archives were later retrieved. This pivotal event in Austin’s history would become known as “The Archive War.”

Inspired by Angelina and other the other Austin locals, the 1842IT team shares the same commitment to the security and the growth of small and medium businesses in central Texas.