AUSTIN, Texas — Members of the Austin City Council decided Thursday to start the process to rename a street near Downtown Austin.
Confederate Avenue is located between Ninth and Tenth streets in the Clarksville neighborhood off of West Sixth Street. Confederate Avenue sits between Mathews Elementary School and a nearby preschool.
On Thursday, council members voted on an ordinance that would start the process to change the name in honor of Maggie Mayes. Mayes was a former educator who founded the first school in the Clarksville neighborhood.
This isn't the first time Austin has changed the names of roads with controversial backgrounds.
In 2018, City leaders voted to rename and change the pronunciation of Manchaca Road to Menchaca Road. Leaders said that after all those years, the road was technically misspelled.
The decision irked business owners, who were frustrated they would need to change their signs and marketing. A judge finally sided with the City of Austin in 2019.
In 2017, the Austin City Council voted to change the name of Robert E. Lee Road near Barton Springs Pool. This came after violent white supremacist demonstrations in Virginia.
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