Texas Capitol Visitors Center

April 4, 2018

The Texas Capitol Visitors Center is housed in the former General Land Office which was completed in 1847.  The building is a combination of round-arch and Norman styles.

Exhibit subjects include capitol construction, land grants made to soldiers of the Texas Revolution, and the writer O. Henry.

The architect for the Capitol called for a native limestone exterior but iron in the limestone caused discoloration.  Red granite from Burnet, Texas was donated as a replacement and concessions, including the use of convict labor and simplification of design elements, were made to limit the increase in construction costs.

Texas Red granite

Soldiers who served in the Texas Revolution were paid with land grants.  We followed the grant made to Susanna Dickinson, widow of Almaron Dickinson who was one of the  defenders of Gonzales and who died at the Alamo.  We were interested to learn that her land was in Lockhart, near our campground.

The Land Grant Office is the location for several stories written by William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry.  He worked in the building drawing maps and surveys from field notes.  His story “Bexar Scrip No. 2692” describes a staircase to nowhere, pictured below.