Site of the Official Residence of Mirabeau B. Lamar

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, there are spots in Austin where the ground itself seems to hold a memory, and this is one of them. We're talking about the site of the official residence of Mirabeau B.

Lamar, born in 1798, and a man who carried the weight of an entire republic on his shoulders. He served as President of the Republic of Texas from 1838 to 1841, and during that stretch, this was his official home. The building went up in 1840, which means it was brand new when Lamar was living and governing inside it, making decisions that shaped a nation that hadn't yet become a state.

You picture that. A republic. Not a territory, not a state.

A republic, with a president and a residence to match. Then March of 1847 rolls around, and fire took the building. Just like that, gone.

The kind of end that leaves nothing to argue over, nothing to restore, only the ground it stood on and whatever memory the earth decided to keep. That ground sat with its history for a good while. Then, in 1882, Saint Mary's Academy came to occupy the site, and has been there ever since.

So the next time you pass by, consider what's underneath all that. A president's home, a republic's history, and a fire that made sure neither one would ever be taken for granted.

What the marker says

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.