{"nrhp_refnum":"93000389","name":"Austin Public Library","other_names":["Austin History Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"810 Guadalupe St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.27157158400007,"lon":-97.74589037599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story Italian Renaissance style limestone library building at 810 Guadalupe Street in downtown Austin, Travis County, Texas, built in 1932-33 and designed by Hugo Franz Kuehne. It now houses the Austin History Center.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the most architecturally distinctive public libraries built in Texas between the world wars. It shows Kuehne's Beaux Arts training and the severe classicism of the 1930s, and it retains high integrity on its primary elevations and principal rooms. It is also a local civic landmark with fine craftsmanship by noted Austin artisans.","narrative":"Built in 1932-33 on a half-block site at 810 Guadalupe Street, this one-story limestone building served as Austin's central public library for about fifty years. Architect Hugo Franz Kuehne, an Austin-born, Beaux Arts-trained designer, gave it a symmetrical Italian Renaissance composition with round arched windows and a central arcaded loggia reached by broad stairs. Austin had no public library until 1926, and a 1928 bond election funded the permanent building. Local craftsmen contributed ironwork, frescoes, carved woodwork and a stone mantel, and most of this detail survives. The main alterations were the 1959 infill of the rear courtyards and the conversion of the basement auditorium to offices. After a new library opened in the early 1980s, the building was restored and adapted to house the Austin History Center's archives and research collections. It is recognized locally for its architecture, its austere classicism, its integrity and its prominent setting facing Wooldridge Park.","period_of_significance":"1932-33","architect_builder":"Kuehne, Hugo Franz","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as the Austin History Center, an education/research facility; restored in the 1980s after the 1959 infill of the rear courtyards.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.194362-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/9736/40973648/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/93000389.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000389/08a5d4cb35-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000389/08a5d4cb35-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Austin_history_center_2006.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_history_center_2006.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973648","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_History_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2872117"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/austin-public-library-93000389/"}