Texas State Capitol

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

Texas State Capitol is a historical marker in Austin, Travis County, dedicated in 1965. It is one of 336 historical markers documented in Travis County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 641 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.2729, -97.7410 near Austin. The nearest cataloged historic site is Site of Second Travis County Courthouse and Walton Building (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Confederate Texas Legislatures, The Woman Suffrage Movement in Texas, and African Americans in the Texas Revolution.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507014150. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.