{"nrhp_refnum":"69000212","name":"Driskill Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"117 E. 7th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.267920915000047,"lon":-97.74157076699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story Romanesque Revival hotel of pressed brick and white limestone at 117 East 7th Street in Austin, Travis County, Texas, designed in 1885 by Joseph N. Preston and Son of Austin for cattle baron Jesse Lincoln Driskill.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the Driskill as an Austin and Texas institution that opened in 1886 as a luxury hotel. It hosted gubernatorial inaugural balls, University of Texas homecoming balls and legislators' headquarters, and it was used by President and Mrs. Johnson. It was named a significant Austin landmark in 1966 and a Texas historic landmark the same year. It is also noted for its architecture.","narrative":"Designed in 1885 by Joseph N. Preston and Son of Austin, the Driskill Hotel is a four-story Romanesque Revival building of pressed brick trimmed with white limestone, located at 117 East 7th Street. Limestone busts of cattleman Jesse Lincoln Driskill and his two sons crown its street facades, alongside gargoyles. Driskill spent about $400,000 on the hotel, which opened five days before Christmas in 1886. It quickly became a center of Texas public life, hosting Governor Sul Ross's inaugural ball in 1887, University of Texas homecoming balls for over thirty years, and lodging for legislators. President and Mrs. Johnson used it as their election night headquarters in 1964. A twelve-story annex was added in 1930, and renovations in 1947 and 1952 changed much of the interior. In 1966 local and state groups recognized it as a landmark. It was nominated in 1969 while facing possible demolition.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1886)","architect_builder":"Joseph N. Preston and Son of Austin","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival (later described as Richardsonian Romanesque)","criteria":[],"status_note":"At the time of the 1969 nomination the hotel was closed (September 1969) and threatened with demolition by its owners. A 1974 letter says it was later bought by the Driskill Hotel Corporation, renovated and managed by Braniff International, with shops, restaurants and offices on the lower floors and hotel rooms above.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.087498-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/9736/40973601/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/69000212.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000212/ac857b39cb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000212/ac857b39cb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims).","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Driskill_Hotel,_Austin,_TX,_2013_IMG_6496.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims).</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Driskill_Hotel,_Austin,_TX,_2013_IMG_6496.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"75002132","name":"Sixth Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/sixth-street-historic-district-75002132/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973601","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driskill_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5307819"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/driskill-hotel-69000212/"}