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General Land Office Building

Texas, US

General Land Office Building

The General Land Office Building, completed in 1857, in Austin, Texas is the oldest surviving state government office building in the city and the first building designed by a university-trained architect (German architect Christoph Conrad Stremme). The building features a dramatic medieval castle s

tyle known as Rundbogenstil, or "rounded arch" around the windows and doors. There is also a Norman style influence in the castle-like parapets. The exterior walls are limestone rubble smoothed over with stucco and scored to simulate cut stone blocks. The building is located on the southeast corner of the Texas State Capitol grounds. One employee, William Sidney Porter - pen name O. Henry Porter - worked in the office from 1887 to 1891, and would later attain fame as a writer. Some of his works would include those set at the building, such as "Bexar Script No. 2692" and "Georgia's Ruling". The building functioned as the state's land office building until 1917 (60 years) when the agency moved to a larger building across the street. From 1919 until 1988 (70 years) the building housed museums run by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas on the second floor, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy...

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