 Austin would become "the Lowell of the South," and the sleepy center of government and education would be transformed into a bustling industrial city.The town had reached its limits as a seat of politics and education, Wooldridge contended, yet its economy could not sustain its present size.Empowered by a new city charter in 1891 that more than tripled Austin's corporate area from 4 ½ to 16 ½ square miles, the city fathers implemented a plan to build a municipal water and electric system, construct a dam for power, and lease most of the hydroelectric power to manufacturers.