AUSTIN, Texas — It’s hard to imagine that downtown Austin was once a lush forest where giant mammals roamed, but you need to look no further than the 22-story office building at 301 Congress Ave.
When the building was under construction in 1985, something remarkable happened. As crews began foundation work 20 feet below Congress Avenue, they came across the bony remains of mastodons – elephant-like creatures that are now extinct.
As news leaked about the discovery, the curious began gathering to watch as jaw bones, leg bones and all sorts of other bones were dug up.
Austin was swept up in mastodon fever.
The crowds got so large that the owner of the property turned it into a public event. They opened the construction site for thousands who stood in line, some for two hours, for a chance to see archaeologists at work.
Mastodons looked similar like elephants, but were larger and had longer tusks. They roamed North America for thousands of years, only to be hunted to extinction about 10,000 years ago.
Once the 301 Congress building was officially opened, the bones remained on display in the lobby.
Today, 40 years later, the memory of that historic find lives-on in the jazz club near the site where the bones were found. It’s known as “The Elephant Room,” named in honor of the mastodons who once lived next door.