East Sixth Street (known locally as Dirty Sixth)[7] plays host to a wide variety of events each year, ranging from music and film festivals (such as South by Southwest) to biker rallies (such as The Republic of Texas Biker Rally) and the Pecan Street Festival.

The Bastrop Highway linking the town to earlier settlements in East Texas was charted in 1839 and chose the route into Austin along Pecan Street.

The stagecoach followed this route when it arrived in Austin in 1840, and used the Bullock Hotel at the northwest corner of Pecan and Congress as the stage stop.

Following an explosive growth in town population between 1850 and 1860, Pecan soon contained not only log and frame houses, but also was lined with wagon yards, livery stables, and saloons to meet the needs of travelers.

[10] During the late 1880s, however, Congress Avenue began to pre-empt Sixth Street as the most fashionable shopping destination in the city.

George Littlefield chose the northeast corner of that intersection in 1911 for a 9-story brick and limestone building to be built to house his American Bank.

A steady erosion of the commercial importance of the East 6th Street area occurred in the 1940s and particularly accelerated after World War II.

A skid-row atmosphere was fostered in the 1950s and 1960s by the multiplying number of pawn shops, loan companies, and bars in the area.

[13] Since May 2014, a parking ban is enforced from Thursday evening to Saturday night inside the entertainment district (Interstate 35 to San Jacinto Street) which ends at 2 a.m. past midnight which is defined as a Sunday based on the 24 hour clock) - plans to make the Sixth Street district vehicle free was considered prior to a SXSW '14 drunk driving incident back in March where several pedestrians were struck.

A pioneering group of Austinites, including Dr. Emma Lou Linn, known as the Old Pecan Street Association, was instrumental in reclaiming the downtown space and starting renovation of the old buildings.

The association needed adequate funding for restoration costs and bringing a street fair to life was a solution to their problems.

In 1978, the Pecan Street Festival was started and included local food and art vendors along with bands from the surrounding area, establishing a community event for cultural preservation and creativity.