Wilhelm von Rosenberg, Map of Travis County, Austin: Texas General Land Office, 15 May 1861, Map #4088, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

Travis County, 1861 By Wilhelm von Rosenberg

Wilhelm (William) von Rosenberg (1821–1901) made use of color-coding to draw attention to early colony surveys in this map. Like all county maps surveyed and made by GLO draftsmen of this time period, von Rosenberg depicts the original surveys within Travis County as of 1861.

Fading notations in the lower-right corner of the map indicate blue outlines for surveys located within Austin’s Colony and red outlines for surveys located within Milam’s Colony.

Vast swaths of vacant public domain land can be seen in the westernmost parts of the county.

Von Rosenberg came to Texas as an East Prussian immigrant in 1849 during the zenith of mass German immigration. A descendant of a long line of Prussian nobles, he spent much of his youth at the finest schools.

After serving in the German military, von Rosenberg passed the surveyor’s exam at the Royal Academy in Berlin and went on to study architecture. He left for Texas due to his politics clashing with the entrenched and powerful German aristocratic leadership.

Much of western Travis County was still unclaimed public domain land as of the creation of this map in 1861. People in possession of an unlocated land certificate could choose any land that was vacant to locate their survey. In this particular area, early settlers were attracted to land fronting the Colorado River.

Von Rosenberg found work quickly and after displaying his architectural skills by designing the Fayette County courthouse in La Grange, was appointed as a draftsman at the GLO in 1856.

[left] Austinites will recognize the names of several original land grants south of the Austin city tract — major roads in Austin bear the names of William Cannon, Thomas Anderson, S. F. Slaughter, and Isaac Decker; and the community of Del Valle sits just east of Austin. [right] Surveys located in the spring of 1838 near the intersection of Caldwell, Hays, and Travis Counties are identified by an orange boundary. No explanation is given as to why these particular surveys are highlighted, but overlapping lines indicate that there were conflicting claims to the land.

A reproduction of this map can be purchased on the GLO website.