Austin has small-town, Midwest vibes and unique World War II history
Austin is a small town of over 4,000 residents, north of Louisville, in an area often referred to locally as "Kentuckiana" because it is in an area between both Kentucky and Indiana. “It’s a textbook Indiana small town with big corn fields and people drinking coffee half the day,” says Shawne Mardis, a Realtor with over 20 years of experience and the owner of Moving with Mardis.
One of the city’s largest employers, the Morgan Foods cannery, has a history that’s anything but standard. Faced with a shortage of labor during World War II, the cannery put more than 1,500 Prisoners of War from Italy and Germany to work as it contracted with the government to provide nonperishables to the U.S. Army.
20th-century cottages and the newly constructed recreations of them
Mature trees with lush foliage border narrow streets devoid of sidewalks that form a grid pattern throughout the city. Branches and leaves reveal cottages built anywhere from the 1930s through the early 2000s and priced to sell between $30,000 and $200,000, depending on condition and needed repairs. Ranch-style homes were mostly added between the 1960s and the 1970s. Ranging between $170,000 and $200,000, many include additional garages, barns or sheds.
New constructions built between 2024 and 2025 mimic the style of some of the city’s oldest homes and fetch between $150,000 and $210,000. While some of the most recent builds come on dirt lots, most properties in Austin sit on grassy lots that go up to more than half an acre in size. “They’re able to get a much better deal because they’re not directly in town,” Mardis says. “I would say the lower price point has caused a surge [of new constructions] to fit the need for people who want to be close to everything but want that small-town feel.”
Community parks and the Austin Bottoms Wildlife Conservation Area
Austin Community Park includes a half basketball court, a baseball field, shaded picnic tables and a play set with several scarlet slides on the eastern outskirts of town. Campbell Park has most of the same amenities closer to the center of the city.
The Austin Bottoms Wildlife Conservation Area encompasses more than 26,0000 acres of bottomland forest and wetland habitat along the Muscatatuck River, teeming with creatures like flying squirrels, bobcats, beavers and mink. Great horned owls and bald eagles perch and circle above as hunters, anglers and mushroom-pickers search the land below.
Local highways lead to Scottsburg and Louisville, south of Austin
Both Interstate 65 and U.S. Route 31 pass through Austin, connecting it to several nearby metro areas. United States Route 31 leads north to Crothersville and south to Scottsburg, as does Interstate 65. There, residents will find the Norton Scott Hospital, about 4 miles from Austin. The interstate continues south across state lines to downtown Louisville, about 36 miles away. Indiana state Route 356, locally known as Main Street, bridges the two highways and contains many of the city’s stores and restaurants.
Local eateries and a donut shop surround Main Street
Most of Austin’s eateries can be accessed from Main Street, which runs east to west through town. Scooter's Family BBQ pairs a variety of smoked meats with classic sides like macaroni and cheese, green beans and cole slaw. A1 Dhaba prepares a number of curries and other traditional Indian dishes, to be enjoyed with fluffy basmati rice or airy naan bread. For dessert — or breakfast — a display of donuts decked in colorful icing and sprinkles awaits at Best Donut. Northside Grocery is located on the north side of the city, while larger options, like Save A Lot and Walmart Supercenter, are farther south in Scottsburg. “Scottsburg and Austin bleed together,” Mardis says. “I think of Austin as a suburb of Scottsburg because it’s so close.”
Austin High School’s state championship-placing academic club
Children are zoned for Scott County School District 1, which consists of Austin Elementary School, which earns a C grade from Niche, the C-minus-rated Austin Middle School and Austin High School, which scores a C-plus. High school students can enroll in the Austin Academy, graduating with a high school diploma and an Associate of General Studies from Ivy Tech Community College. The high school also offers 12 athletic programs and an academic club that placed in the 2024 Indiana Academic Spell Bowl state championship.
