Once upon a time in Texas by Mable Cash 5-24-08
In 1835-1837 the Republic of Texas had a government on horseback that was constantly on the move. Meetings for government officials were located in turn at Harrisburg, Galveston, San Jacinto, Velasco, and Columbia. In 1837 it moved to the new town of Houston and remained there for three years, for a permanent capitol had yet to be established. After a great deal of debates, it was 1839 before a congressional commission chose a site on the Colorado River in a small village in the wilderness called Waterloo, Texas. (I’ll bet you thought that I was going to say it was Austin.) The place called Waterloo had its name changed to Austin, in honor of Stephen F. Austin who led the first colonists into Texas territory. He is often called “The Father of Texas” by historians. The first capitol building was erected in 1852 but burned to the ground in 1881. Then the government had no place to attend to governmental business. The official needs had far out-grown the original building and a replacement would have to be much larger.
Times were hard for Texas after the Civil War. The State Treasury was empty and money was scarce. The State legislature chose to sell off some of our assets to raise money for a permanent capital building. They sold 3 million acres of public land to pay for our present day State Capital building! (When Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845, she agreed to keep all her debts and all her public lands as a condition of Statehood) Architects drew up plans for consideration and a design was chosen. The structure was to be placed on the original site of the old capitol on a hill commanding a view of Congress Ave. in Austin.
A company of English and Scottish investors accepted the offer to purchase the 3 million acres of Texas territory and named their new acreage the XIT cattle ranch. (Thus named for “Ten In Texas” because the holdings included part of ten Texas Counties.) With monies from this sale, the State Capitol building foundation could be laid. Architects used 15,000 carloads of pink granite from quarries in nearby Burnet County to build our imposing structure. The State assisted by building a 16-mile rail line from Burnet to Granite Mountain and provided 1,000 convicts for the entire building project! The iron columns that support this massive structure were made by prisoners from the penitentiary at Rusk from local Texas resources of coal, charcoal and limestone. Our capitol is a product of our State! The result of the design and workmanship is a building that resembles the National Capitol ….with the exception of one minor detail, the state house of Texas is several feet taller than its Washington counterpart.
As the construction of the State Capitol was nearing competition in 1888, it was decided to top off the dome with a zinc statue of the “Goddess of Liberty.” She was cast in sections and then put together before being hoisted into place atop the dome. The direction she faces was strongly suggested by some Confederate War veterans. Their comment was, “Don’t much matter where she faces as long as her backside faces north!”
The Texas State Capitol building topped with the Goddess of Liberty holding a lone star, completed in May of 1888 has just turned 120 years old! Happy Birthday to our Texas Goddess of Liberty!
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