Texas Governor's Mansion
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Governor's Mansion
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| File:Texas governors mansion.jpg | |
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The Texas Governor's Mansion in 2006.
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| Location | 1010 Colorado St., Austin, Texas, USA |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Built | 1855 |
| Architect | Abner Cook |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000896 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 25, 1970[1] |
| Designated NHL | December 2, 1974[2] |
The Texas Governor's Mansion, also known simply as Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the Governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. It was built in 1854, designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, and has been the home of every governor since 1856.
On June 8, 2008, while midway through a major renovation, the mansion was badly damaged by an arson fire started with a Molotov cocktail. Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Phalen Abbott are the 40th family to live in the Texas Governor's Mansion and Abbott is the 41st governor to live in the mansion full-time.
History
The mansion is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Texas and fourth oldest governor's mansion in the United States that has been continuously occupied by a chief executive. The mansion was the first-designated Texas historic landmark, in 1962.[3] It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Governor's Mansion" in 1970, and further was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1974.[2][3]
Original architecture
Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens. The original mansion was 6,000 square feet (560 m2). Remodeling in 1914 increased the size of the mansion to 8,920 square feet (829 m2). The original mansion had 11 rooms but no bathrooms. The remodeling brought the room count to 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms. In 1931, at the recommendation of former Texas First Lady Mildred Paxton Moody, the Forty-second Texas Legislature established the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee all interior and exterior upkeep and enhancements to the mansion. Mrs. Moody was the first head of the Board, which was abolished in 1965.[4]
2008 fire
The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008. Then-Governor Rick Perry and his wife Anita Thigpen Perry were in Europe at the time of the fire. They had relocated in October 2007 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2008. The project was to include a fire suppression system.[5] State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building.
On February 2, 2011, Chief Tony Leal, an assistant director of the Texas Rangers, announced that a person of interest has been identified that is connected to an Austin-based anarchist group which has also been linked to an attack (involving Molotov cocktails) which was planned for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul during September 2008.[6] No one has ever been charged and there has never been any evidence linking anarchist involvement to date. An official close to the investigation said agents determined the fire was a criminal act "after reviewing footage from security cameras." To date the crime has gone unclaimed. A restoration was begun, with a scheduled completion in 2012.[7] The Perrys moved back into the Governor's Mansion on July 18, 2012. [1]
In May 2009, $22 million was allocated to the restoration of the Governor's Mansion, $11 million of which came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An additional $3.4 million has been raised through private fund raising.[8] The restoration area, which includes the mansion and the adjacent segment of Colorado Street, has been closed to the public with a chain-link fence and barbed wire, and is currently monitored by state troopers in plain-clothes with unmarked cars at all times.
Notes
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. and Accompanying three photos, exterior and interior, from 1966 and 1975 PDF (32 KB)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/22/0522mansion.html
References
- "The Texas Governor's Mansion," The Magazine Antiques, July 2006.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Governor's Mansion from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Friends of the Texas Governor's Mansion - includes history, photos, visiting information
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. TX-33-C-4, "Governor's Mansion, 1010 Colorado Street, Austin, Travis County, TX", 19 photos, 11 measured drawings, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
| Topics | |
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| Lists by state |
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| Lists by insular areas | |
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| Other areas | |
| Related | |
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Museums in Austin, Texas
- Houses in Austin, Texas
- Historic house museums in Texas
- Governors' mansions in the United States
- Government buildings in Texas
- National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas
- National Historic Landmarks in Texas
- Historic American Buildings Survey in Texas
- Buildings and structures in the United States destroyed by arson
- Greek Revival houses in Texas
- Arson in Texas
- Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
