DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place — and friend, it's quite a story. Now, Austin has had more than one capitol building. Most folks don't think about that.
They picture that grand dome on the hill and figure it's always been there. But back in 1881, the capitol Texas had at the time — burned. Just gone.
And suddenly the government of the great state of Texas had no house to call its own. So while a new building was being constructed between 1882 and 1883, the orphaned Texas government did what it had to do — it crossed Congress Avenue and conducted business in the county courthouse and jail. Think about that for a moment.
The sovereign government of Texas, working out of a jail. There's a metaphor in there somewhere, but I'll leave that to you. The temporary solution turned out to be a three-story brick building — the third Texas capitol in Austin — and it pulled its weight for five years.
Five busy years. The legislature passed strong legislation to aid education. They took on fence-cutting, which by 1883 had exploded into an honest-to-goodness range war.
That building witnessed all of it. Two governors served there. John Ireland from 1883 to 1887, and Sul Ross from 1887 to 1891.
And in 1883, the brand-new University of Texas held classes in that very building — 218 students, waiting on campus facilities to be ready. Not a bad temporary classroom, as temporary classrooms go. Now.
Here is the moment in this story that stops you cold. Cattle baron Charles Goodnight — yes, that Charles Goodnight — once loaded one hundred thousand dollars in cash into a wheelbarrow and had it hauled right up to the capitol to force a settlement of a land dispute. One hundred thousand dollars.
In a wheelbarrow. You cannot make that up, and I did not make that up — it is on the marker. The officials, for their part, refused his offer.
Whatever Goodnight thought of that response, the marker does not say, and I will respect that silence. After the present capitol was finished in 1888, the old building didn't just sit idle. It became home to Austin High School.
Music teachers set up studios there. Various offices moved in. It had a whole second life.
And then came September 30, 1899. The building burned. And when it did, curious spectators climbed up and sat on the fence around the new capitol — the one that had replaced it — and watched volunteer firemen fight the blaze, hampered the whole time by low water pressure.
There's something almost poetic and a little heartbreaking about that image. The new capitol standing tall in the background, people perched on its fence, watching the old one go. The structure was razed not long after.
And the bricks — those three-story, witnessed-a-range-war, held-a-university, saw-a-wheelbarrow-full-of-cash bricks — were scattered into structures throughout Austin. Some of them might still be out there, holding up a wall somewhere, keeping their secrets. Not a bad run for a building that was only ever supposed to be temporary.
What the marker says
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. During this time it witnessed the passage of strong legislation to aid education and to halt fence-cutting, which, in 1883, had exploded into a range war. Governors John Ireland (1883-1887) and Sul Ross (1887-1891) both served in this building. In 1883, the University of Texas held classes here for its 218 students until campus facilities were complete. On another occasion, cattle baron Charles Goodnight loaded $100,000 in cash in a wheel barrow and had it hauled to the capitol to force settlement of a land dispute, but officials refused his offer. After the present capitol was finished, 1888, this structure was used as home of Austin High School, studios for music teachers, and for various offices. When it burned, Sept. 30, 1899, curious spectators sat on the fence around the new capitol to watch volunteer firemen, hampered by low water pressure, fight the blaze. The old building was razed soon after and the bricks were used in structures throughout Austin. (1967)