1918 State Office Building and 1933 State Highway Building
a.k.a. State Land Office Building:TEA Building;James Earl Rudder Bu
1019 Brazos and 125 E. 11th Sts., Austin, TXThese buildings have also served as the first and second headquarters of the Texas Highway Department. The state office building (1918) and state highway building (1933) were both constructed to satisfy the demand for state office space, as the Texas government grew to meet challenges of the 20th century. It was also the first skyscraper built in Texas for use as a state government office building.
The State Office Building (1918) and State Highway Building (1933) were both constructed to satisfy the demand for state office space, as the Texas government grew to meet challenges of the 20th century. Though built 15 years apart, they are linked physically (occupying adjacent lots on East 11* Street, directly across the street from the State Capitol grounds), and by function (serving as office buildings for an expanding state government). Although the architectural styles of each building seem unconnected by time period or effect (the State Office Building is Classical Revival, while the State Highway Building is Art Deco), they are both the result of a shared design aesthetic which dictated rational planning, high ornamentation, and grand presentation. These buildings have also served as the first and second headquarters of the Texas Highway Department.
J.T. Robison, Commissioner of the General Land Office, ordered the name "State Office Building" placed on the building's cornerstone, in recognition of the various state agencies who would share its space. Despite this gesture, the building was most often referred to as the "New Land Office Building," and later as the "T.E.A. Building," when occupied by the Texas Education Association from 1960 to 1986. The building was renamed "James E. Rudder State Office Building," in 1988 after former Land Commissioner and Texas A&M University President James Earl Rudder (1910-1970). The fifth headquarters for the General Land Office, the 1918 State Office Building was the first state office building built outside the formal Capitol grounds, and the first modern, steel-framed building in the Capitol Complex.
The State Highway Building (renamed the "DeWitt C. Greer Building" in 1981 for a retiring State Highway Engineer and Texas Transportation Commissioner member) was among the first Art Deco buildings in Austin, and remains one of the city's premier examples of that style. The State Highway Building represents one of the first forays into "modern" architecture in the city, which had previously exhibited predominately Victorian-era public and commercial buildings. It was also the first skyscraper built in Texas for use as a state government office building.
The State Office Building is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, in the area of Government, at the state level of significance, and Criterion C, in the area of Architecture, at the state level of significance, as an excellent example of a Classical Revival office building designed by Texas master architect Atlee B. Ayres. The State Highway Building meets Criterion A, in the area of Government, at the state level of significance, and Criterion C, in the Area of Architecture, at the state level of significance, as an excellent example of Art Deco design by the noted Texas architecture firms Adams & Adams, and Lang & Witchell. Both buildings represent the growth of an activist Texas government in the early 20th century.
Bibliography
Aharonian, Christine. "State Highway Building." Stmcmre narrative, 1993. Unpublished manuscript. On file at the Architecture Library, Special Collections: Student Projects, University of Texas at Austin.
"Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres: Architects, San Antonio." Paper prepared in conjunction with an exhibition of architecmral drawings at Battle Hall, University of Texas at Austin, 1979. Copy in the Architects' File, Architecmral Drawings Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin.
Bell, Wayne, and Roxarme Williamson. Old Land Office Building. National Register of Historic Places nomination. Austin: 1970.
Elswick, Brian Danial. "Texas General Land Office: A Study and Reuse Proposal." Master's thesis. University of Texas at Austin, 1986.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.