by Mike Cox
21 Number of monuments standing on the capitol grounds
29.93 Tons per square-foot load imposed by dome at fourth-floor level
32 Legal-size pages in state’s initial contract with capitol builders
39 Sheets of original architectural drawings by E.E. Myers
46 Unused rooms when capitol first opened
50 Number of restrooms in capitol as of 1934
55 Length of the booms on the derricks at the construction site
64 Diameter (feet) of rotunda
65 Depth (feet) of excavation for underground capitol extension; height of derricks used to lift granite and limestone blocks at the construction site
80 Pieces assembled to fashion the Goddess of Liberty statue; length (feet) of Senate chamber, which is 96 feet wide
96 Width (feet) of the two-story House chamber, which is 100 feet long
110 Columns inside capitol
200 Number of iron columns found throughout building cast by Rusk State Penitentiary inmates
266 Distance (feet) from star in Texas seal on first floor of rotunda to the star in dome
299 Width (feet) of capitol, including the steps (exact width is 299 feet and 10 inches)
309 Height (feet) of capitol from basement to top of Goddess of Liberty statue, which is 16 feet above the dome (exact height is 309 feet and 8 inches)
392 Rooms in capitol when opened
400 Average number of convicts who worked in the quarries
404 Doors in capitol listed in 1934
500 Stair steps from basement to dome; number of people who can sit in the gallery of the House of Representatives; number of trees on the capitol grounds by 1962—only 50 were native to Texas.
585 Length (feet) of capitol, including steps (exact length is 585 feet and 10 inches)
924 Windows in the capitol
2,000 Workers involved in construction
2,900 Weight (pounds) of restored Goddess of Liberty statue
3,200 Number of gas jets installed in the building, though most were never used
4,000 Railroad cars of granite shipped from Marble Falls
5,000 Number of etched 28-inch diamond-shaped pavers sold to state residents, schools, churches and businesses for placement on Oval and Great walkways
8,282 Five-point, gold-painted stars originally in capitol fence
11,000 Railroad cars of limestone and other materials
12,000 Weight (pounds) of capitol cornerstone after dressing
14,000 Austin’s population when capitol opened in 1888
20,000 People attending capitol’s 1888 dedication
85,000 Square footage of copper roofing
91,000 Cubic feet of concrete used in the building
181,518 Cubic feet of granite shipped from Marble Falls for use in the capitol
370,260 Square feet of floor space in 1888 capitol
667,000 Square footage of underground capitol extension
3,000,000 Acres traded for construction of capitol and which became XIT Ranch
Appendix B
BOTTOM LINES
Note: All values rounded to the nearest dollar
$98,000,000 Cost of capitol renovation completed in 1995
$75,000,000 Cost of 1993 underground extension
$6,000,000 Cost of 1990s capitol grounds restoration
$3,744,631 Cost of 1888 capitol construction
$500,000 Amount paid by state in addition to 3 million acres; cost of air conditioning the capitol in 1955
$115,000 Cost of woodworking
$114,341 Spent by contractor in excess of contract requirements
$90,000 Cost of all building hardware (doorknobs and hinges)
$64,000 Cost of plasterwork
$52,000 Cost of wood furniture for new capitol
$50,000 Monthly payroll in October 1886 at construction peak
$25,000 Cost of various storage cabinets
$22,787 Cost of ornate iron fence around capitol grounds
$20,000 Cost of floor coverings
$13,684 Cost of 114 cases of glass etched with the state seal
$12,000 Fee earned by capitol architect (1881)
$11,360 Cost of expanded electric system (1889)
$9,703 Cost of drilling artesian well (1889)
$7,444 Cost of surveying capitol land in the Panhandle (1879)
$5,150 Amount paid by vendor to purchase beer concession for capitol dedication
$3,000 Fee earned by New York architect who spent three weeks in Austin reviewing proposed capitol designs
$1,545 Cost of dressing, polishing and engraving 1882 cornerstone
$90 Monthly salary of draftsmen who made 117 copies of original sheets in capitol plan
$4 Wage paid per day to Scottish stonecutters
$3–$3.50 Daily pay for skilled laborers
$1–$1.50 Daily pay for common laborers
$.65 Amount paid by the contractor to the state per day per convict laborer
$.50 Value state placed per acre on the 3-million-acre capitol reservation
Chronology
CAPITOL TIMELINE
1875 New state constitution is written. Delegate J.R. Fleming proposes leveraging five million acres in the Panhandle to fund construction of a new capitol.
1876 February 15: Voters approve new constitution. Article XVI, Section 57, sets aside three million acres to finance new capitol.
1879 February 20: The legislature authorizes trading three million acres for a new capitol with an additional fifty thousand acres earmarked to pay for surveying the land.
April 18: Lawmakers pass legislation creating a capitol board and enabling it to oversee the construction process.
1879 J.T. Munson, with an escort of Texas Rangers, surveys ten
Panhandle counties at a cost of $7,440 raised through sale of fifty thousand acres of state-owned land.
1880 Nimrod L. Norton and Joseph Lee are named building commissioners and Jasper Preston building superintendent. They serve at the pleasure of capitol board, which consists of the state’s top elected officials
November: The capitol board publishes “Notice to Architects” seeking plans and specifications for a new statehouse.
1881 Of the eleven architects (only three from Texas), who submitted anonymous proposals, the drawing selected was that of Elijah E. Myers, a Michigan architect.
July 1: Ads seeking construction bids appear in state and national newspapers.
November 9: At 12:15 p.m., fire breaks out in the 1853 capitol and soon guts the structure.
1882 January: Having received only two bids, the capitol board awards the capitol project to Mattheas Schnell of Illinois. Schnell soon assigns his interest to four Chicago men: Abner Taylor, Amos Babcock, Charles B. Farwell and his brother John V. Farwell. Charles Farwell was a U.S. senator from Illinois and John a Chicago businessman. Taylor was a contractor and member of the Illinois legislature and Babcock a friend and political supporter of the other men.
January 18: The contract between state and Taylor, Babcock and Company (commonly referred to as the Capitol Syndicate) is signed.
February 1: To comply with the contract calling for construction to start on this day, with only a few citizens and no other state officials present, capitol commissioners Lee and Norton unceremoniously break ground for a new capitol.
February 20: Excavation work begins.
May: Workers use dynamite to blast a sixty-one-thousand-square-foot hole in limestone bedrock for the capitol basement. A local newspaper warns residents to watch out for flying debris.
June 20: Taylor, Babcock and Company assigns building project to Taylor as general contractor.
August 31: With excavation complete, Taylor awards Chicago builder Gus Wilke a subcontract to build the foundation and basement.
December: Construction office, housing for construction workers and other facilities are in place; as Christmas approaches, workers offer Austinites a “vocal concert.”
1883 M
uch of year is spent in obtaining rights of way and building railroad tracks from a limestone quarry in Oatmanville (present Oak Hill), seven miles from capitol construction site, and on foundation work.
September: Annoyed by sightseers, contractor Taylor fences off the construction site and requires visitors to obtain permits.
1884 February: Several hundred large hunks of limestone are hauled by wagon to the construction site from the Oatmanville quarry.
March 4: With the railroad complete, sixty tons of limestone arrive at construction site from Oatmanville.
April 30: Building superintendent R.L. Walker (the third and final person to hold the job) rejects Oatmanville limestone for exterior use.
December 8: Walker recommends using granite on the exterior and limestone only for the foundation, basement and interior walls. Prison inmates in Rusk began making iron castings for use in building.
1885 February 3: Capitol architect Myers alters building plans to allow for using granite on the exterior, but the limestone versus granite issue is still being debated.
March 2: Granite cornerstone is laid. Governor John Ireland asks the crowd whether they prefer granite or limestone and gets his answer: granite.
July 21: Capitol Board approves using granite donated by rancher G.W. Lacy of Burnet County.
The state agrees to provide prison labor for use in quarrying limestone at Oatmanville and granite from near Marble Falls.
July 25: The capitol night watchman is arraigned before a justice of the peace, “charged with chasing his wife out of the house with an ax.”
August: Subcontractor Wilke gets the contract to complete the building and begins construction of a sixteen-mile narrow-gauge rail line from Burnet to Marble Falls.
November: The rail line is nearly completed.
Reacting to the state’s use of prison labor at the quarries, the International Association of Granite Cutters votes five hundred to one to boycott the capitol construction project. While convicts could blast and cut large chunks of granite, experienced stonemasons are needed to dress the rock.
1886 Wilke sends a representative to Scotland to hire stonemasons. Eighty-six men are induced to come to Texas, but after they reach New York, union representatives and a U.S. marshal inform them that it is against federal law to hire aliens. Sixty-four Scots decide to stay, while the others return.
This is the peak year of construction.
February: Exterior granite work is underway.
July: The first floor is completed.
October: Second floor is nearly completed.
1887 A contract amendment changes roofing material from slate to copper. The dome begins going up, and exterior ornamentation and walls are completed.
August: Austin federal judge finds Wilke guilty of violating the alien law and assesses a $64,000 fine plus costs. Six years later, fine is reduced to $8,000 and costs, and Wilke pays it.
1888 January: Construction is mostly completed.
February 26: The Goddess of Liberty is placed atop the dome.
April 20: The rudimentary electrical lighting system is switched on for first time.
April 21: The capitol opens to the public for the first time.
May 16: The capitol is dedicated.
September: Government moves into building, and contractor Wilke picks up the tab for moving the furniture of the House of Representatives from the temporary capitol to its new chamber.
December 8: The Capitol Board formally accepts the building after Wilke completes punch-list items, including fixing windows, roof leaks and other problems found by an inspector hired by the state.
1889 January: Lawrence Sullivan Ross becomes the first governor inaugurated in the capitol.
February: The first new desks, chairs and other furniture arrive, even though the legislature had been in session for months. Lacking sufficient funding, the state leaves thirty-seven rooms and nine larger halls unfurnished.
1890 An ornate metal fence mounted on granite is placed around capitol grounds.
1891 The Alamo Memorial, first statue on the capitol grounds, is erected.
1894 Powered by a seventeen-thousand-kilowatt generating plant, more electric lighting is installed.
1896 The San Jacinto battle flag is donated for display by the family of
Captain Sidney Sherman, who received the banner for his valor in the pivotal engagement.
July 7: The Volunteer Fireman Memorial is dedicated.
1901 The Confederate Memorial monument is erected.
1903 The original post office on the second floor is renovated for use as Railroad Commission hearing room; Capitol Station moves to ground floor.
Marble statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston by famed sculptress Elisabet Ney are placed in south foyer.
1907 The Terry’s Texas Rangers, CSA monument is erected.
1910 The Hood’s Texas Brigade, CSA monument is erected.
An electric chandelier is hung in the rotunda.
1912 Driveways around the capitol are curbed and paved.
1919 A press room opens on the second floor.
1922 The first electronic voting system is installed in the House.
1925 Texas gains clear title to the capitol site after settling a claim for $25,000 with the heirs of Thomas Jefferson Chambers.
Texas Cowboy monument is erected.
1929 July: As Austin grows, the people’s ability to see their capitol becomes an issue for the first time when Travis County announces plans for a new, and significantly higher, courthouse where the old one stood at Eleventh and Congress. “It would be an aesthetic crime to erect a large building on the courthouse site, obstructing views of the capitol,” Governor Dan Moody declared. Travis County opted not to cause a stink and built a new courthouse farther from the capitol—and not so high as to interfere with its view.
1934 A survey finds 409 rooms in the capitol (17 more than the original
392); the lieutenant governor’s area is remodeled to add a kitchenette and bedroom.
1935 The legislature authorizes ornate terrazzo flooring for rotunda and first floor; Governor James Allred moves the governor’s office from the first to the second floor, near the Senate chamber.
1936 The governor’s office gets a window air-conditioning unit.
A large state treasury vault is built in the basement.
Renovation of Governor’s Public Reception Room is completed.
1938 A twenty-year plan is created for capitol maintenance and renovation.
An automatic sprinkler system is installed.
1939 The Forty-Sixth Legislature authorizes a bronze plaque in the south foyer commemorating “those patriotic citizens” N.L. Norton, W.H. Westfall and G.W. Lacy for donating granite used in the capitol.
1945 A tree is planted by the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs in soil from all 254 counties in memory of Texas World War II heroes.
1947 After an original glass skylight falls from the ceiling in the House chamber one weekend, lawmakers have the skylights removed from both chambers. Later, some of the skylights were replaced on the Senate side, but they were made with Plexiglas.
1950s Renovation work continues, including replacing the copper roof (1949) and tile floors in all public spaces; removing original chandelier in rotunda; installing new a star beneath the interior dome; new plumbing, electrical wiring and central air conditioning throughout the building.
1951 A Statue of Liberty replica is erected.
The Hiker, a monument honoring Spanish-American War veterans, is erected.
1953 Public access to fifth level of rotunda and dome ends for safety reasons.
1956 June 4: Governor Allan Shivers and Austin mayor Tom Miller throw the switch to bathe the capitol dome in newly installed powerful flood lights.
1959 Texas Thirty-Sixth “T Patch” Division monument is dedicated.
1961 Veterans of World War I monument is dedicated.
The Ten Commandments monument is dedicated.
1960s The ceiling in the old Supreme Court Room is lowered and acoustical tile added; glass-and-aluminum vestibules are installed at the main entrances; and automatic elevators are installed.
1963 Governor John Connally expands the governor’s office into a second-floor Senate committee room, and large arched openings in the adjacent public lobby are replaced with standard doors and windows.
1965 The capitol view issue comes up again as plans are announced to build a twenty-four-story building just southwest of the capitol. Despite some resistance, the building goes up.
1969 May: A lighted star above the south entrance is removed by legislative order.
August 5: Article XVI, Section 57 of the Constitution (which set aside the land for the capitol in 1876) is repealed by voters as so much deadwood.
1970 The capitol is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The building is so cramped for space that offices are set up in the basement, turning wide corridors into a bewildering series of narrow warrens. Size and location of members’ office spaces hinge on their legislative seniority.
1973 The Freedom Tree monument is dedicated to prisoners of war and Texans missing in action.
1976 The U.S. Bicentennial Fountain is donated by the Texas Realtors. A time capsule is buried on the grounds during the U.S. bicentennial celebration.
Six external circular granite panels above main entrances are filled with the seals of the six nations whose flags have flown over Texas.
1978 Voting in House of Representatives is computerized.
1980 The Disabled American Veterans monument is erected.
1982 February 1: The centennial of the beginning of the capitol’s construction is celebrated.
November: Two downtown high-rise buildings put up in the 1970s further decreased the capitol’s prominence on the Austin skyline. Now, plans for a fifteen-story building at Tenth and Congress bring the capitol issue view to a boil. A group called Texans to Save the Capitol try to block the structure in court, but the builders ultimately prevail.
1983 February 6: A fire in the lieutenant governor’s east-wing apartment causes extensive damage and kills one. Planning begins to restore capitol to its original design. The Texas Society of Architects ranks the capitol one of the state’s twenty most significant architectural works of all time, in part because of its Renaissance Revival style.