Heritage, Volume 10, Number 2, Spring 1992 Page: 12
39 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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ment of the project area was compiled
before a single shovel full of dirt was removed.
Maps, plats, photographs, bird's
eye view sketches, and older aerial photographs
were examined to make a composite
map showing where all buildings once
stood. Other records, street indexes, and
accounts were also reviewed to refine the
historical reconstruction. They indicated
that more than 100 buildings and support
structures (sheds, barns, outbuildings) had
stood on various lots from 1850 to 1960. A
composite map showing the footprints of
all known structures superimposed on the
present landscape was compiled. Ten whole
lots and parts of 11 others fell inside the
construction area. The Blocks numbered
159,160,172, and 173, were part ofWaller's
1839 layout.
The areas soon to be stripped to bedrock
were undeveloped before 1850 except
for Block 160, the site of a one-story dwelling.
After the first stone Capitol was built
in 1853, residential development increased
along Congress Avenue north of Capitol
Square. Two two-story houses were built
on Block 173, and a larger two-story boarding
house was built on Block 160. Block
159 remained undeveloped while Block
173 had at least one dwelling on it. The
Civil War all but stopped development,
however, the following decade witnessed a
boom. Block 159 had two large structures
constructed of brick and stone with fashionable
mansard roofs. One served as a
major boarding complex for the next 60
years. Block 160 had its oldest dwelling
removed, and another two-story house
built. Several more dwellings were constructed
on Block 173 while the houses on
Block 172 provided the only unchanged
lot use in the project area. Just outside of
the areas excavated were two churches and
more houses.
The residential composition was
changing, and bureaucrats and professionals
were now moving into the area. Residents
in the area included carpenters, lawyers,
a painter, bookkeeper, grocer,
draughtsman, mattress manufacturer, and
an eye and ear surgeon, among others.
Archaeological deposits on Block 160 can
be directly related to a number of these
boarders.
The following 10 years witnessed even
greater change as urban infilling aroundthe new granite Capitol escalated and more
rooms were needed for professionals, bureaucrats,
and special interest groups. A
new three-story building with several dozenFigure 1. General area north of Capitol Building showing areas (A through H) where 17 trenches were
located to check for significant deposits.rooms was constructed and was known as
the Morris House, later as Raines Mansion
(ca.1905), and finally, Plaza Rooms (ca.
1935).
The residential composition of the area
changed even more as the last two decades
of the 19th century passed; Austin doubled
in population from 11,013 (1880) to 22,258
(1900).
Archaeological Findings and Results
The remains of a dozen 19th century
structures and more than 70 smaller features
were exposed and examined as parts of the
four Blocks were studied in detail. The
more interesting findings can be categorized
under three topics: architectural information,
artifacts, and urban living. Some
examples for each are briefly touched upon
below.
The original design of the Capitol
Square area restricted private development
between blocks 159 and 160 and the
Capitol. Buildings on the south side of
these two blocks faced the Capitol and
were in plain sight of Texas' lawmakers.
Excavations on Block 159 exposed foundations
of four major structures, two that
dated from the late 1870s and had foundation
cut directly into bedrock. Evidenceof 1958-61 urban renewal was visible in
many areas where foundations were truncated
by bulldozer blades and the surface
reworked after removing about 14 inches of
topsoil. As a consequence, the entire footprint
of the two oldest buildings on the
eastern half of Block 159 lay intact below
the reworked soil. Local chalk building stone
and fairly soft hand-pressed brick composed
these footings.
The design of these footings provides
insight into the Capitol Square area around
1875. They revealed that their builders specifically
preferred brick over stone facades
for directions facing the Capitol. Solid stone
walls, however, were used on the north faces
of the two buildings, walls that were not
observable from the Capitol. Toward the
Capitol, however, stone walls were veneered
with brick. Today, Austin contains many
bare stone-faced buildings. These roughshaped
stone buildings now have an attractive
and antiquated look but were not desired
a century ago adjacent to the Capitol and
Block 159.
Several other notable features were uncovered
on Block 159. Beneath both of the
1870s structures were large cisterns cut into
bedrock and filled with rainwater piped
from the roofs. Brick-lined troughs carried12 HERITAGE * SPRING 1992
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 10, Number 2, Spring 1992, periodical, Spring 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45420/m1/12/?rotate=90: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.