Postcards > State Capitol & Capitol Grounds > Texas Capitol Building (Austin Chamber Ad Card)
Texas Capitol Building (Austin Chamber Ad Card)
| Item Number: | 24217 | ||
| Text on Back: | Front: Come to Austin, "The Friendly City," and visit the Austin Chamber of Commerce Back: DESCRIPTION OF THE TEXAS CAPITOL BUILDING The Capitol is shaped like a Greek cross, fronting south, with projecting center and flanks, having a rotunda and dome at the intersection of the main corridors. Construction work was begun February 1, 1882, the cornerstone was laid March 2, 1885. and the completed building was dedicated May 16, 1888. It was built at a cost of 3,000,000 acres of land of the State taken from the public domain. This land today is worth about $60,000,000. Architect — E. E. Myers. Contractor — Abner Taylor. Dimensions are as follows: Length, including porticoes but not in steps, 528ft, Greatest width, including poticoes but not steps, 290 ft. Height, 311 ft. from grade line to top of statue on dome — 7 ft. taller than the dome of National Capitol. Among the Capitols of teh Nation, the Texas Capitol is second in size only to the National Capitol, and at the time of contruction, was said to be the seventh largest building in the world. Grade line is 600 ft. above sea lavel. There are 392 rooms, 18 vaults, 924 windows and 404 doors. The exterior walls were built with more than fifteen thousand carloads of red granite, hauled over 75 miles of specially built railroad from the inexhaustible quarries of Burnet County. The Wainscoting is made of oak, pine, cherry, cedar, walnut, ash, and mahogany, with an aggregate length of about 7 miles. The building proper covers three acres ofground and has about 18 acres of floor space. Prepared by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the City of Austin. | ||
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| Publisher: | Austin Chamber of Commerce | ||
| Source: | Collection of Casey M. Weaver | ||
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