Constructed in 1856, this building is the oldest extant government office building in Austin. The structure was designed by German architect Conrad C. Stremme, a member of the Royal Hannoverian Commission on Public Buildings who was educated at the University of Giessen in Germany. The decision to select this architect and the German-inspired building design is a reflection of the many German immigrants who arrived in Texas during the mid-19th century. The building also stands as a reminder of the unique nature of Texas' annexation into the United States. This building served as the state's land office until 1917 and was home to a museum from 1919 until 1989. Following renovation in the early 1990s, the building became home to exhibits related to the state of Texas and its capital.
The Capitol Visitors Center is housed in the restored 1856 General Land Office building, the oldest surviving state office building. This building served as the Land Office for about 60 years. Today it is the oldest surviving state office structure and houses the Texas Capitol Visitors Center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
In 1947, the University of Texas leased four rooms in a three-story building that once stood at this location just a hundred feet from the state capitol. The university used this location to house the "School of Law of the Texas State University for Negroes." The school was an attempt to provide separate facilities for the training of African American lawyers during the state's appeal of Heman Marion Sweatt's challenge to the segregation of higher education as part of the Sweatt v. Painter lawsuit. Famously derided by Sweatt's NAACP attorneys as "The Basement School" due to its location slightly below street level, it failed to enroll any registrants during its first semester and at its peak had only three students. In the summer of 1948, the school - and a single student - moved to Houston to become part of the newly established Texas State University for Negroes (now Texas Southern).
The Texas State Capitol was designed by architect Elijah Myers whose work included the designs used in the creation of the Michigan and Colorado capitol buildings. The Texas capitol building was completed in 1888 and placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In 1986, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its "significant contribution to American history."
The current Texas Capitol, built in 1882-1888, houses the legislative branch for the state of Texas; the building has seen many political changes from 1888-2023. Crafted out of red granite, the Capitol is the 6th tallest capitol building in the United States standing at 302.64 feet from the ground level to the tip of the star of the Goddess of Liberty.[1] The capitol building contains important government offices including both the Senate and House of Representatives’ Chambers, the Legislative Reference Library, and the Governor’s Office.[2] The Capitol also houses monuments located on the Capitol grounds, including the Texas African American Monument.[3] The monument is intended to honor historical figures from all ethnicities and depicts Juneteenth, the emancipation of former slaves, and modern African-American figures that have shaped Texas.[4, 5]
Erected in 1903 by a group led by Confederate veterans, this monument features Confederate President Jefferson Davis flanked by bronze figures that depict the navy, artillery, infantry, and cavalry. The monument was dedicated to the memory of Texas men who died in service to the short-lived Confederate States of America, a rebel government that attempted to secede from the United States but were defeated during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Located on south grounds of the Texas State Capitol, five bronze figures on a gray granite base flank Confederate president Jefferson Davis, a curious choice given the widespread criticism of Davis's presidency by many Texans. Etched in the base are the names of the thirteen states which formed the Confederacy as well as main the battles fought between 1861 and 1865. Pompeo Coppini executed the bronze figures and Frank Teich erected the monument. In recent years, many residents have called for the removal of this monument owing to its glorification of Jefferson Davis and others fought for slavery and against the United States government.
This historical marker commemorates the contributions of African Americans, both slave and free, who supported the movement for Texas independence from Mexico between 1835 and 1836. Among those recorded as having participated in the war are Hendrick Arnold and William E. (Bill) Goyens. Arnold was a guide and soldier in Ben Milam’s Texas Army at the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto. Goyens served as an interpreter and liaison for Sam Houston in regards to the Cherokee Native Americans and helped negotiate a treaty.
The first classes of the University of Texas (UT) were held on September 15, 1883. Of the original 218 students, 52 were in the law program. The law professors were Oran M. Roberts, former Governor of Texas, and Robert S. Gould, former Texas Supreme Court Justice. The law school was one of only two schools housed at the university at the time. The other was the school of liberal arts.
Charles Lundberg came to Austin in 1872 during a period of substantial Swedish immigration into the city. He built this bakery in 1876, choosing a location that was near Texas state offices and downtown businesses to attract potential customers. The bakery changed hands among several other families of Swedish immigrants through the Great Depression. The business faced competition from grocers and chains as the tradition of purchasing bread on a daily basis gave way to customer preferences for convenience. The original bakery closed in 1936 and the building was home to a variety of businesses in the decades that followed. Today, the historic building is home to the Old Bakery and Emporium which serves as a visitor's center, art gallery, and consignment shop.
Built between 1872-1884, Saint Mary's Cathedral is a historic church and one of Austin's many landmarks in downtown. The first church, a small stone structure named St. Patrick's was located on the corner of 9th and Brazos streets. The Catholic community grew and eventually wanted a larger building; they also decided to change the name to St. Mary's in 1866. The present church is an excellent example of High Victorian Gothic architecture. The church, which became a cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Austin in 1984, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The Austin Club, formerly the Millett Opera House, was built in 1878 by Austin local lumber seller Captain Charles F. Millet and designed by Frederick Ruffini. When it was completed, the building had the second-largest enclosed space in the state. The opera house was not used only for opera and theatre, but was also the setting for many historical events over the years. Since 1980, the building has been the location of the Austin Club and is rented out for social events. Founded in 1949, the club is the oldest in downtown Austin.
St. David's Episcopal Church, established and built in 1854, stands as an enduring testament to Austin's rich history. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by its first pastor, Edward Fontaine. This remarkable structure holds the distinction of being one of the oldest buildings in the city*1. At the time, Edward did have a slave who was the sexton at the church, named Jacob Fontaine. While still a slave, he honed his pastoral skills by preaching in the basement of the old Methodist Church*2. Jacob would go onto become a leader in Austin’s black community, including helping to find 6 more churches, and creating the first black newspaper in Texas, The Gold Dollar*3. At the time of its construction, it was among a select few Episcopalian churches in the entire state of Texas. The church's origins trace back to the merger of two congregations: Christ Church, founded in 1847, and the Church of the Epiphany, established in 1851*4. Notable members of Austin's community attended the church, solidifying its prominence in the region.
The Driskill Hotel in Austin was built in 1886 by Jesse Driskill, a local cattle baron who sold the hotel less than a year after it opened. Dignitaries and state officials regularly stayed at the hotel and hosted functions, and Lyndon B. Johnson maintained a headquarters at the Driskill for much of his political career. The luxury hotel served hosted numerous social functions such as state dinners, social balls and the University of Texas homecoming. The hotel almost met its demise in 1969, but a nonprofit organization saved it from demolition by raising $900,000 and purchasing the hotel. In the years that followed the hotel underwent many changes and has been renovated multiple times and continues to serve as one of the city's leading hotels.
Considered Austin’s first skyscraper, the Scarbrough Building was built in 1909. Originally designed in the Chicago architectural style, it received an Art Deco renovation in 1931. From its inception, it housed the well-known department store Scarbrough & Hicks (later renamed E.M. Scarbrough & Sons), until the store was closed in 1983. Briefly the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, the Scarbrough Building was an important Austin hub through most of the 20th century. Still standing in the heart of downtown, the historic structure is now home to a variety of restaurants, retail stores, and offices.
Constructed in 1929 during a period of urban planning and modernization, Norwood Tower remains the only Gothic Revival- or Commercial Gothic-styled commercial structure in Austin. When the building was completed, it was the tallest structure in the city and the first to have air conditioning in every office. It was also the first building to have its own parking garage. For several decades, the building's maintenance engineer was African American. Recognizing the indignity of Jim Crow that dictated life in public spaces prior to the Civil rights Act of 1964, Clarence Odie Williams made the bathroom in his private office available to people of color.
The Paramount Theater is one of Austin's most iconic landmarks. Located on Congress Avenue, Paramount Theater was built at the precise location of the office of Sam Houston, one of Texas's Founding Fathers. This was also the location of the Avenue Hotel--one of the leading establishments in Austin during the 19th century. The Paramount was built in 1915, and remains the oldest theater in Austin. Preserved and restored through the generosity and effort of citizens over the past few decades, the theater continues to host great musical and cultural events. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Built under the direction of the Public Works Administration in 1936, as part of the New Deal program intended to alleviate unemployment and provide a boost to the economy, the U.S. Courthouse served numerous federal agencies and as an office for Lyndon B. Johnson. Federal agencies used the building through 2012 before leaving for a more modern facility. However, in 2020, it will re-open under the direction of Travis County, serving as home to county offices and probate courts.
In 1970, the feminist Austin Women's Organization opened the Austin Women’s Center at 711 San Antonio Street. The Center was located across the street from the Austin Woman’s Club was referred to as “Everywoman’s Center” to reflect the inclusive orientation of the founders who sought to better understand the experiences of diverse women as they explored how social norms affected women. The Women’s Center also sponsored many different workshops on sexuality, career advising, and birth control. During meetings at the Women’s Center, many women realized for the first time that frustrations and anxieties they experienced daily were also shared by many other women. Women began to link personal problems with larger social and political issues, which they then worked together to change. The Center operated throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.
The Austin History Center, one of the foremost local history collections in Texas, was founded in 1955 as the Austin/Travis County Collection of the Austin Public Library. It houses thousands of documents, photographs, maps, artifacts, and personal histories of the city and region. It contains the Austin Public Library's local history collection as well as the city's historical archives. The building originally opened as the Austin Public Library in 1933 and served as the main library until 1979. The Italian Renaissance structure is considered to be the most prominent public work of Austin native Hugo Kuehne, founding dean of the University Of Texas School Of Architecture.
This is one of seventeen still-functioning light towers in Austin that were part of the thirty-one moonlight towers erected in 1895. These towers in Austin are the only known surviving carbon arc lamps street light towers from the 19th century in the world. The towers were named moonlight because of their height of approximately 165 feet, and the “artificial moonlight" they used to produce. Each of the towers was crowned with a circle of six carbon arc lamps which produced the light. In the 1800s, several major cities had tall arc towers, including New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Baltimore, Detroit etc. Austin purchased 31 already used moon towers from the city of Detroit, which in the 1890s had the largest tower lighting system in the country. Today, the 17 remaining Moonlight Towers in Austin, stand as a reminder of an era when the moonlight tower lighting system was common in U.S. cities. They are now designated as official state archaeological landmarks (1970), and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (July 12, 1976).
The historic cottage and house, built in 1873 and 1885 respectively, served as the home to Henry and Jennie Hirshfeld and their eight children. Henry was one of many German immigrants to arrived to Austin in the mid-eighteenth century and he went on to become a prosperous merchant, helped in part by his marriage to Jennie whose family already enjoyed success in the same type of work. Henry also established the Austin National Bank and the first Jewish congregation in Austin with the construction of the Temple Beth Israel.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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Starting at the Bullock Museum and concluding at the Austin History Center, this tour includes stops at the state capitol, numerous landmark downtown Austin buildings, and everything in-between from Confederate monuments to African American churches and schools.
