{"nrhp_refnum":"70000770","name":"Texas State Capitol","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Congress and 11th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.27471701400006,"lon":-97.7398669459962,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-06-22","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1986-06-23","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Texas State Capitol is a three- and four-story pink granite government building at Congress and 11th Streets in Austin, Travis County, Texas. It was built between 1882 and 1888 to designs by Elijah E. Myers and is owned by the State of Texas.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the Capitol as a major example of Victorian-era capitol architecture, modeled generally on the United States Capitol, with a central dome and a cross plan. It also records the unusual financing, in which the state paid for construction with millions of acres of public land, and the controversies over stone and labor during construction. The form checks Political and Architecture as areas of significance.","narrative":"Rising above downtown Austin at Congress and 11th Streets, the Texas State Capitol is a pink granite seat of government completed in 1888. Elijah E. Myers of Detroit won the design competition, producing a cross-shaped building with a central dome loosely based on the United States Capitol, though with more vertical proportions. The state had no cash for construction, so it traded roughly three million acres of West Texas public land to a Chicago syndicate that built the Capitol. Plans first called for local limestone, but poor quality and limited supply led to a switch to granite from Burnet County, which also meant simpler carving and the loss of two end porticos. Convict labor at the quarry prompted a granite cutters' boycott, and Scottish stone cutters were brought in. The dome was topped with a zinc Goddess of Liberty in January 1888, and opening celebrations followed that May. Its interior woodwork, cast iron columns and Texas paintings add to its character.","period_of_significance":"1882-1888","architect_builder":"Architect Elijah E. Myers of Detroit; contractor Abner Taylor of the Capitol Syndicate of Chicago (contract originally awarded to Mattheas Schnell); Gus Wilke, sub-contractor","architectural_style":"Victorian-period capitol, modeled generally on the United States Capitol, with Renaissance details","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in government use, with unrestricted public access; condition is marked as unaltered and on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.920457-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/9737/40973759/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/70000770.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000770/3eb194dab4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000770/3eb194dab4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Mayer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_State_Capitol_building-front_left_front_oblique_view.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Mayer</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_State_Capitol_building-front_left_front_oblique_view.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973759","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Capitol","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2078042"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/texas-state-capitol-70000770/"}