{"nrhp_refnum":"87002115","name":"State Lunatic Asylum","other_names":["Administrative Building,Austin State Hospital"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4110 Guadalupe","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.307577596000044,"lon":-97.73690517599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Administration Building of Austin State Hospital, originally the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, is a four-story limestone building at 4110 Guadalupe in Austin, Travis County, Texas. Begun in 1857, it received additions in 1875, 1879 and 1893, and a classical portico in 1904.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is nationally significant for its history and architecture. It reflects changing attitudes toward the mentally ill through its use of the nationally recognized Kirkbride hospital plan. It also shows Italianate styling later overlaid with a Victorian Classical Revival facade.","narrative":"Authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1857, the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin began as a limestone building laid out on the Kirkbride Plan, a nationally recognized hospital design with a central administrative block and flanking patient wings. The plan, set within a wooded park-like site, reflected a more progressive approach to caring for the mentally ill, although the institution remained largely custodial for decades. The asylum opened to twelve patients in 1861. Austin architect Jacob Larmour designed an addition in 1875, and further additions followed around 1879 and 1893. In 1904 architect Arthur O. Watson added a six-column Ionic portico that gave the modest Italianate front a late Victorian classical character. Two domes crown the building, and much of the original interior layout, rounded door corners and Greek Revival trim survives. A large 1883 women's dormitory was demolished in 1974. The building remains in use as the hospital's administration center.","period_of_significance":"1857-1904","architect_builder":"Charles Payne and others (Charles Payne or Conrad C. Stremme, 1857; Jacob Larmour, 1875; A.O. Watson, 1904)","architectural_style":"Italianate, with later Victorian Classical Revival facade","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a hospital administration building; condition rated fair, with structural systems good but deterioration of domes, masonry and windows noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.806291-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/9737/40973773/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/87002115.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002115/f41d84078f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002115/f41d84078f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Austin_state_hospital.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Austin_state_hospital.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973773","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_State_Hospital","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4823299"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/state-lunatic-asylum-87002115/"}