The Archive War site refers to the area in early Austin, centered near the old General Land Office and Congress Avenue, that functioned as the practical and symbolic seat of the Republic of Texas government's paper records in the early 1840s. The government archives housed there were not merely historical documents but active working records essential to daily civic administration, including land titles, deeds, and legal papers that Texas settlers relied on to establish and defend property claims. In December 1842, amid fears of Mexican and Native American attacks on the exposed frontier capital, President Sam Houston ordered the archives quietly removed to Houston, a move Austin residents saw as a threat to the town's status and future as the seat of government and to their ability to access records tied to their land. Local residents, famously including innkeeper Angelina Eberly, discovered the removal underway, fired a cannon normally used for defense to raise the alarm, and pursued the wagons, ultimately forcing the return of the archives to Austin. The episode underscored the site's dual function as both a record-keeping and administrative center and a flashpoint for civic and political power over where the seat of Texas government would permanently reside. Today the site lies within downtown Austin's government and commercial district, functioning as an area of historical commemoration marked by a bronze statue of Angelina Eberly at the cannon and nearby interpretive markers, rather than any surviving Republic-era structure.