DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this story starts the way all the best Texas stories do — with a hill, a dream, and a whole lot of ambition. Austin became the capital of Texas on January 19, 1840, and right away they set their eyes on a particular hill and platted it as Capitol Square.
A fine idea. They built a limestone statehouse there in the 1850s, and for a while, everything was grand. Then — as limestone has a habit of doing when it hasn't been asked properly — the thing started developing structural flaws.
Texas had itself a capitol that was slowly giving up on the job. Now, you might think that's a problem. But in Texas, a problem is just an opportunity wearing a bad hat.
The Constitutional Convention of 1876 looked at the situation, scratched their collective chin, and set aside three million acres of public land — three million — to finance a new statehouse. That is not a building fund. That is a statement of intent.
They held a national competition for the design, and a Detroit architect by the name of E. E. Myers won it, his plans selected several months before fate decided to add a little drama to the proceedings — because on November 9, 1881, the old 1850s capitol burned to the ground.
The hill was cleared. The slate was clean. Texas was ready.
Basement excavations began early in 1882, and what followed was a feat of logistics that would make a railroad man weep with pride. Railroads were built specifically for this project — not borrowed, not repurposed, built — to haul limestone from the Oatmanville quarries right there in Travis County. And then there was the granite.
Texas Sunset Red granite, donated by the owners of Granite Mountain over in Burnet County, hauled in and set into place like the state itself was being carved out of the earth one more time. E. E.
Myers gave them a Renaissance Revival style building, three stories tall with a four-story central block, and at the crossing of its major axes, a dome that reaches up like it's got somewhere to be. In February of 1888, crews hoisted the Goddess of Liberty to the very top of that dome, and when they stepped back and measured, the Texas Capitol stood more than fourteen feet taller than the United States Capitol in Washington. Fourteen feet.
Texas didn't clear three million acres of land and haul granite across the Hill Country to come in second. Then on May 18, 1888, a man named Temple Houston — son of Texas hero Sam Houston, serving as a state senator — accepted the building on behalf of the people of Texas. And the words he chose were not small words.
He called it, quote, a structure that shall stand as a sentinel of eternity. The son of Sam Houston, standing on that hill, speaking those words over a building that nearly didn't happen — that is a moment that earns its place in the telling. The legislature and the functions of government have called that capitol home ever since.
In 1993, a four-story underground Capitol Extension was completed to the north, more than doubling the square footage, because Texas has never once looked at a good thing and said that's probably enough. A comprehensive renovation in the early 1990s restored the whole structure — inside and out — to its original grandeur while making sure it could carry the weight of generations still to come. A sentinel of eternity, they called it.
Standing on that hill in Austin, taller than the national capitol by fourteen deliberate feet, you start to think Temple Houston knew exactly what he was saying.
What the marker says
Austin became the capital of Texas on January 19, 1840, and this hill was platted as Capitol Square. A limestone statehouse built here in the 1850s soon developed structural flaws. The Constitutional Convention of 1876 set aside 3,000,000 acres of public land to finance a new statehouse. Architect E. E. Myers of Detroit won a national competition with his plans for this capitol several months before the 1850s capitol burned on November 9, 1881. The Renaissance Revival style building, three stories tall with a four-story central block, features a dome at the crossing of its major axes. Basement excavations began early in 1882. Railroads built especially for this project hauled limestone from the Oatmanville quarries in Travis County and Texas Sunset Red granite donated by the owners of the Granite Mountain in Burnet County. Crews hoisted the Goddess of Liberty to the top of the dome in February 1888, making the Texas Capitol more than 14 feet taller than the U. S. Capitol. On May 18, 1888, state senator Temple Houston, son of Texas hero Sam Houston, accepted the building on behalf of the people and called it "a structure that shall stand as a sentinel of eternity." The state legislature and other government functions have met in the capitol since its completion. In 1993, the four-story underground Capitol Extension was completed to the north, more than doubling the square footage available to occupants and providing much needed space. A comprehensive interior and exterior renovation during the early 1990s returned the historic structure to its original grandeur while ensuring its functionality for future generations. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965