History
Site of Temporary Texas State Capitol of 1880's
Built, 1882-1883, to replace the previous capitol, which had burned in 1881. Until the building was completed, the orphaned Texas government conducted business in the county courthouse and jail across Congress Avenue. The three-story brick building -- third Texas capitol in Austin -- was used five years.
History
Site of Texas Wesleyan College
Founded by Swedish Methodists, with leadership and guidance from the Rev. O. E. Olander, Texas Wesleyan College opened in 1912. Numerous academic courses were offered in the school sponsored athletic teams, a newspaper, and music, and literary clubs. It was closed in 1940, in the 21-acre site and buildings were sold to the University of Texas.
History
Site of the Home of Reuben Hornsby
Site of the Home Built in 1832 by Reuben Hornsby (1793-1879) and his wife Sarah Morrison Hornsby (1796-1862). Second built in "Austin's Little Colony". First in the present county of Travis. Famed for Christian hospitality. Here Josiah Wilbarger recovered after being scalped in 1833. Mr. Hornsby and his sons fought in many Indian battles and served as scouts in Capt. John J.
History
Site of the Official Residence of Mirabeau B. Lamar
Site of the Official Residence of Mirabeau B. Lamar, 1798-1859 President of the Republic of Texas, 1838-1841. The building was constructed in 1840 and destroyed by fire in March, 1847. Since 1882 the site has been occcupied by Saint Mary's Academy.
History
Smith-Clark-Smith House
When the State Capitol burned in 1881, Scottish-born James Baird Smith (1843-1907) cleared the site and erected a temporary statehouse nearby. Salvaged bricks and stone, which he used to build this rent house about 1886, probably came from the burned capitol. The first tenant was noted Banker John G. Palm (1846-927 ).
Architecture
Snead-Rieck House
In August 1934, Edwin Brazelton Snead (1904-1982), a well-known Austin construction and development figure, built this Tudor Revival-style house. Snead, holding the demolition contract for the Old Main structure on the University of Texas campus, used the light yellow-buff bricks and other construction materials from Old Main in the construction of this house.
Transport
Southwestern Telegraph & Telephone Bldg.
Veteran Travis County official and historian Frank Brown (1833-1913) erected this structure in 1886. Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company bought and restyles the building in 1898. Architect A. O. Watson designed the ornate façade, Previously in rented quarters at various sites, S.T. & T. occupied this as the city's first telephone building. The John L.
History
Splitrock (Burns-Klein House)
In 1891, Thomas F. Burns bought 3 ' acres of the Jones and Sedwick property along the west bank of Shoal Creek. Burns, a Scottish immigrant, married Arbanna J. Nelson in Travis County in 1876. Property records and lumber marked 'Sutor & Co.' Date his house to circa 1892. Thomas, Arbanna and six children lived here in 1900. Thomas was listed as a stone cutter and owner of a marble shop.
History
St. John Church
German settlers who came to Richland community in the 1860s worshiped originally in private homes. Nineteen charter members, under leadership of the Rev. G. Haehnelt, organized the St. John German Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1878. Church land was given for a schoolhouse where services were held until the first sanctuary was built in 1884.
History
St. John Orphanage and Industrial Institute
An ornate, red brick building at this site served as the first structure in town built for the public high school, founded in 1881. Construction of the facility was hastened when the classrooms in the former temporary State Capitol at 11th and Congress were destroyed by fire. Completed in 1900 from the plans of Bert McDonald and James Reily, 'Old Red' featured a domed rotunda.
History
St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church
This property, once situated just outside Capitol Square at 106 East Peach Street (later 13th), was the original location of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church ("Die Deutsche Evangelish Lutherische Kirche"). Pastor Henry Merz (1842-1928), a missionary for the First Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas, organized the congregation in 1883 with 20 German families.
Architecture
Stanley and Emily Finch House
Constructed in 1927 and 1928 for $13,500, this house has associations with several prominent Austinites. Its original owners were University of Texas civil engineering Professor Stanley P. Finch and his wife Emily (Rice). Finch's UT colleague, architect Raymond Everett, designed the house. Landscape architect C. Coatsworth Pinkney created the landscape in the 1940s.
History
State Bar of Texas
On July 15, 1882, a volunteer organization of Texas attorneys known as the Texas Bar Association, was established in Galveston, with Judge Thomas J. Devine as the first president. The forerunner of the State Bar of Texas, the group met annually to address common concerns such as the uniformity of jurisprudence, legislation, the regulation of the conduct of lawyers, and other statewide legal…
History
State Cemetery of Texas
Burial Ground for the Honored Dead of Texas, this Cemetery contains the remains of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas"; nine governors of Texas (as of 1968); and representatives of every period of State history and every department of State government.
Architecture
Stephen F. Austin Hotel
To meet the needs of the growing Austin Community, T.B. Baker, President of Baker Hotels, opened a hotel in 1924 at this site, previously occupied by the Keystona Hotel. Baker's new facility, initially to be called "The Texas," was named for Stephen F. Austin in response to local interest. Acclaimed Fort Worth firm Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick designed the Beaux Arts hotel; local architect Roy l.
History
Stuart Female Seminary
After 23 years as principal of Live Oak Female Seminary, Washington County, Rebecca K. Stuart Red (1826-1886) founded her own school in 1875. Her husband, G.C. Red, M.D., had a two-story stone dormitory - academic building erected on this site, and the Stuart Female Seminary opened formally in January 1876. Ashbel Smith, M.D.
History
Susanna W. Dickinson
(1814-1883). Almaron and Susanna Dickinson settled in Gonzales about 1835 as members of DeWitt's Colony. Present with her daughter, Angelina, when the Alamo fell in March 1836, Susanna witnessed the deaths of Almaron and the other Texans. She was released by Mexican General Santa Anna after the battle, and with an escort made her way to Sam Houston with news of the Alamo.
History
Swante Palm
(January 31, 1815 - June 22, 1899) A native of Basthult, Barkeryd Parish, in the province of Smaland, Sweden, Swante Palm was a leader of early Swedish immigration to Texas. Influenced by his nephew, Swen Magnus Swenson, Palm came to Texas in 1844. He settled first in La Grange, where he served as postmaster and worked in Swenson's general store.
History
Swedes of Texas
Swedish immigration to Texas began with the arrival of Swen Magnus in 1838. Settling first on the gulf coast, he became a successful businessman. In 1850 he moved to Austin, where he established a ranch in the area he later named Govalle ("Good Grazing Land"). His uncle, Svante Palm, joined him in Austin in 1850 and together they promoted Swedish immigration to Texas.
History
Swedish Consulate and Swante Palm Library
Swante Palm, (1815 - 1899) vice consul to Texas for Sweden and Norway from 1866 until his death, built a small house on Ash Street (now 9th Street) in the 1850s. It was a repository for palm's extensive book collection and served as the Swedish Consulate, where Palm gave assistance to Swedish immigrants. To accommodate his ever-growing library, Palm enlarged the house in 1879.
History
Texas and the Civil War - Secession Convention
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 caused unrest and drastic action all over the South and in many Texas counties. Despite petitions, editorials and political pressure, Gov. Sam Houston refused to call a special legislative session to consider the position Texas should take. On Dec.
History
Texas and the Civil War State Military Board
The only new agency created by legislature to deal with wartime emergencies. Original members were the Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer. The last two in 1864 were replaced by appointees of the Governor. Purpose was to establish industry and purchase essential military and civilian supplies.
History
Texas Confederate Woman's Home
The Texas Confederate Woman's home opened in 1908 and provided a home for over three thousand wives and widows of Confederate Veterans. Potential residents were wives or widows of honorably discharged Confederate soldiers, women who could prove active participation in the Confederate War effort, and women 60 years or older without a means of support.
History
Texas Dental Association
This professional association traces its history to 1869, when a group of dentists met in Houston and drafted a constitution and by-laws. Dr. Menard Michau of Houston was elected first president of the association, which was officially chartered by the State of Texas on May 17, 1871. Initial membership consisted of 18 dentists and 22 honorary members.
History
Texas Highway Department
Established April 4, 1917 Early 20th century Texas farmers demanded all-weather access to markets just as automobiles revolutionized transportation for all travelers. Good Roads promoters envisioned a central state agency to organize safe, consistent routes. In 1916 the federal government offered matching funds to build a statewide highway system.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
