General Land Office Building of 1856-57
historical marker
The General Land Office Building, located in Austin, Travis County, Texas, was completed in 1857. Designed by German architect Christoph Conrad Stremme, it stands as the oldest surviving state government office building in the city. The building exhibits a distinctive medieval castle style, known as Rundbogenstil, featuring rounded arches and Norman-style parapets. Its exterior walls consist of limestone rubble, smoothed with stucco. This structure originally housed the General Land Office, an agency established by the Republic of Texas in 1836 to manage the state's extensive landholdings. A notable employee, William Sidney Porter, later known as the writer O. Henry, worked here as a draftsman from 1887 to 1891. He set some of his stories within these walls. The General Land Office moved to a new location in 1917. From 1919 until 1988, the building served as a museum space, housing collections from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Following a restoration between 1989 and 1992, the building reopened as the Capitol Visitors Center. The historical marker for the General Land Office Building was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962. This site is significant for its role as a long-standing state government building and for its architectural style.