I too have heard this rumor of Austin almost becoming the capital of Arkansas for about 40 years. I did a program at Austin on the civil war history of the Austin area last year, and at the end a gentleman ask why didn't I say anything about Austin almost becoming the state capital. To say the least he didn't like my answer, but I worked around it by bring up that Austin was big in the Baptist faith and at one time was being considered in locating Ouachita Baptist College there. Arkadelphia won out and Ouachita Baptist University is located there today. I have never seen any documentation that a real effort was ever made to make Austin the state capital. Territorial capital Arkansas Post in 1819 was moved to Little Rock in 1821 to get away from the mosquito ridden swampy land of delta Arkansas. Little Rock being a more pleasant place to live with some of the first major high ground on the Arkansas River, the river serving as a transportation hub of early Arkansas and Little Rock also being centrally located. So Little Rock had the jump on being the state capital by several years on smaller less developed towns in Arkansas. At Austin there may have been a local politician and a couple of land speculators "working the state capital rumor" to sell some of their large land holdings and town lots at a nice profit. Austin went under four different names from the 1830's to 1861. It's became known as Old Austin around 1871 when the railroad by passed it about a mile to the west. So it is deemed local folklore that Austin, Arkansas missed being the state capital by one vote. There's about five other town in Arkansas that lay claim to "almost being the state capital.