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With a preface by BILL ALLCORN Commissioner of the General Land Office
[Illustration: GENERAL LAND OFFICE—THE STATE OF TEXAS]
[Illustration: The Old GENERAL LAND OFFICE BUILDING—BUILT IN THE YEARS 1856-1857 IN AUSTIN, TEXAS]
The Old General Land Office Building, pictured (above) as it appeared about 1890, is located at the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds in Austin. It is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the Capitol City.
It was designed in December, 1854, by a draftsman in the General Land Office, Professor Doctor C. C. Stremme, who enjoyed considerable prestige in Europe before his emigration to Texas. In addition to other honors, Professor Stremme held a title at the Court of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.
Maps prepared by Professor Stremme suggest his German homeland, and he poured his rich background into the Old Land Office Building. This structure is German Romance in style.
Thirty years after its construction, the building was the working home of William S. Porter, who was later to gain fame as a short story writer under the name of O. Henry. He was a draftsman in the General Land Office, and there he turned out numerous maps of rare beauty.
Later, O. Henry used the Old General Land Office Building in one of his stories, entitled “Bexar Scrip Number 2692”.
Statistically, the old building is 62 by 94 feet, outside dimensions. It has 11,656 feet of floor space in its two floors. Its exterior walls are two feet in width. It is characterized by star-transomed windows.
Moving into the Old General Land Office Building shortly after its completion, the General Land Office occupied the structure until 1918, when it moved into its present building.
A new building to be occupied by the General Land Office and the State Library and Archives is now in the planning stage.
More information about the historic Old General Land Office Building can be obtained from Mr. August Watkins Harris, an Austin architect, 13 Niles Road, Austin, who created the picture (below) and with whose permission it is printed.
[Illustration: PRESENT GENERAL LAND OFFICE BUILDING, 1918]
And the story of Texas land is the story of Texas. This history begins with the Spanish in Texas, goes through the period of the Mexican occupation, tells about a courageous people who forced their independence, set up a republic, and ten years later joined the United States. The story of Texas oil development is also pertinent to the history of Texas land.