** That Ernst Ruffini was the "runner up" in the competition to design the Texas State Capitol
building? Architect Elijah E. Myers, who had designed the capitol buildings in Michigan and
Colorado, won a nationwide design competition for the project in 1881.
* That before 1875, Americans used the terms "architect" and "builder" interchangeably?
Those involved in building design were called master builders, but they later referred to themselves
as architects.
** That in the early 1900s, several firms, including Sears, Roebuck & Company, manufactured
and shipped all the supplies and plans that were necessary to build a house? Supplies for these kit
homes were transported by train and hauled by wagon to a construction site.
*+ That the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Dallas is one of the last remaining
examples of architect Nicholas Clayton's work in that city. Clayton was one of the most prolific
architects in Texas; he designed St. Edward's University in Austin and the University of Texas
Medical Department Building and Bishop's Palace in Galveston.
*:* That the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Dallas has between 2,000 and 3,000 lights in
its 60 foot-high-ceiling and around the perimeter of the walls? In the late 1800s the church was
in its infancy, and electricity was a new service. It has been reported that when the lights needed
to be turned on in the cathedral in those early days, the light company had to be notified in
advance.
That termites are social insects that live in highly organized colonies and nest in the
ground?
** That this year, the Texas Historical Foundation is celebrating 50 years of helping preserve the
culture, tradition, buildings, and history of this great state?
KING AEROSPACE
/_~KA
Sponsored by King Aerospace Inc., P.O. Box 1172, Dallas, TX 75001
