"Save a little of what you have and always remember that success is based on hard work."
Andrew Jackson Zilker





In 1876 Andrew Jackson Zilker was 18 years old, living in his birthplace of New Albany, Indiana and was restless. Having read a two volume history of Texas he made his way to New Orleans as a cabin boy on a riverboat and eventually made it to Austin by ox cart and on foot arriving with 50 cents in his pocket and the clothes on his back.

He immediately began searching for work and found it as a dishwasher. By day's end he had doubled his money. Later he found work as a laborer constructing the Congress Avenue Bridge but he knew that the real money was in the Texas heat and the new technology of ice manufacturing.

In 1875 Austin had its 1st ice plant in Barton Springs opened by Michael Paggi. Zilker hired on with Paggi in an entry level job at his plant at the end of Colorado Street for $1.25 a day. A few weeks later he was the plant engineer and before the end of the year he was leasing the plant which he renamed Lone Star Ice Works.

Austin residents were skeptical that man-made ice would work, so Zilker staged a demonstration on Congress Avenue, with chunks of lake ice on one side and artificial ice on the other. The lake ice melted before the Lone Star ice and Zilker soon had more customers than his one ice house (with a maximum output of 1,000 pounds a day) could handle. He soon opened ice plants all over Central Texas and became Austin's first millionaire.

In 1904 Zilker opened an ice factory and steam plant in Llano, Texas which also sold electricity to local citizens who could afford it.

Zilker eventually died in 1934 having left behind a long legacy of hard work, and philanthropic deeds second to none. Citizens of the Austin and Barton Springs areas will recognize his name on many public buildings and parks.

Below is what is left of his ice and steam plant in Llano, TX. Additional Photos can be found on my Flicker at: https://www.flickr...3983270@N06/albums


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This machine is all that is left of the equipment from the nearby ice and power plant. It sits in a nearby park rusting away in the harsh Central Texas elements with nothing more than a small plaque to mark its significance to the citizens of Llano.
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One of the things that never ceases to impress me is how much history you dig up on every building you go to. I always like to know where I am going, so I cover as much history as possible when I do my recon, but by the time I am posting pictures I am either too focused on the artistic side of pictures or concealing the location, so I tend to leave it out. Even so, I find it much easier to visualize a place and understand the pictures when they have a backstory, so keep up the good work!

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