Old Land Office Building
historic place
The Old Land Office Building, a historic place in Austin, Travis County, was completed in 1857. Designed in 1854 by German-born architect Christoph Conrad Stremme, it opened for business in the spring of 1858. This structure is the oldest surviving state government office building in Austin. Its architecture blends Romanesque Revival and Norman styles, featuring a "rounded arch" design and castle-like parapets. The exterior walls are limestone rubble, smoothed with stucco and scored to resemble cut stone blocks. From January 1887 to January 1891, author William Sydney Porter, known as O. Henry, was employed here. At least one of his short stories was set within the building. The building served as the state's land office until 1917. Later, from 1919 to 1989, it housed museums operated by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The Old Land Office Building was designated a state historical landmark in 1962 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. After a renovation project from 1989 to 1992, it now functions as the Capitol Visitors Center, offering exhibits about the Texas State Capitol. This site matters historically as a long-standing state government building and a reflection of Texas's architectural and administrative past.