National Register Listing

Austin US Courthouse

200 West Eighth St., Austin, TX

The Austin U.S. Courthouse is a ornate, Moderne-style building located in the city of Austin, Texas, that was designed by J.P. Buchanan and built by Algernon Blair. It was used as a U.S. courthouse from 1935 to 1934.

The Austin U.S. Courthouse is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A at the local level of significance for its association with federal construction projects designed to relieve the economic Depression of the 1930s. Completed in 1936, the building is symbolic of both the continued federal government presence in Austin and the overall growth of the federal government in the 1930s. Like other public buildings from the 1930s, the design and construction of the Austin U.S. Courthouse were part of the federal construction programs enacted to reduce unemployment during the Depression. The building is also eligible under Criterion C at the local level of significance as an excellent example of federal architecture from the mid-1930s. Architecturally, the Moderne design of the Austin U.S. Courthouse reflects the organizational influence of the Beaux-Arts architectural style and the Moderne architectural movement,sometimes described as a compromise between tradition and progress.

The city of Austin, founded in 1839, was named the permanent state capital of Texas in 1873, after years of uncertainty. Although in 1839 the city streets and lots were laid out as the capital of the Republic of Texas, the city was considered vulnerable to Mexican forces and hostile Native American tribes, and the government was moved in 1842, first to Houston and then to Washington-on-the-Brazos. ft was only when Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845 that the government was reestablished in Austin. Shortly thereafter, the first federal courthouse and post office in Austin was built at Sixth and Colorado streets.

Between 1877 and 1881, a U.S. post office and courthouse was constructed at a cost of $200,000 and served in its original capacity until 1914, when the growing post office moved to a larger building on West Sixth Street. The 1881 building was built by Abner Cook, an Austin resident and master builder famous for his Greek Revival houses. In 189^ the building was the location of the embezzlement trials of William Sydney Porter, the well-known American short-story writer. This building remained the site of the courthouse until the present federal building was constructed in the 1930s. The 1881 building continued to house various federal offices until 1968. The University of Texas then acquired the building, restored it, and named it O. Henry Hall after Porter's pseudonym.

As with the post office, the growing needs of the federal district court and various federal agencies necessitated either the construction of a new federal building or the expansion of the existing 1881 building by the mid-1920s. According to the Austin Statesman in February 1928, the chamber of commerce renewed its request for the appropriation of $200,000 from the Treasury Department for an addition to the 1881 federal building.' By 1933, however, one-half of a city block had been selected as the site for a completely new building to be constructed with federal funding.

The new site, at Colorado and Eighth streets, had been occupied for more than 35 years by the Central Christian Church but had been abandoned years earlier when the church moved to Twelfth and Guadalupe streets. The former church building was razed for construction in July 1933. The stone from the old Central Christian Church building was salvaged by the congregation of the St. Elias Orthodox Church for use in a new church on Neches Street.

In June 1934, U.S. Congressman J. P. Buchanan introduced an appropriations measure for $415,000 for the construction of a U.S. courthouse in Austin. This measure was successful, and construction was initiated 18 months later. As the first day of construction finally drew near, local commentators noted that the process was a miracle, a result of "many changes in politics and economies" that had facilitated the decision to build.

The construction contract for the project was awarded to Algernon Blair of Montgomery, Alabama. According to the Austin Dispatch, Austin residents had hoped that a local contractor would be chosen for the job. In the end, however, Blair was the successful bidder and was appreciated by locals as a "leader in federal construction fields." The Algernon Blair construction firm was founded in 1896 and managed dozens of public building projects during the mid 1930s, including 18 U.S. post offices; the courthouse in Austin, however, was its only federal courthouse project of the period. Engineering positions for the project were awarded to Texas residents; W. E. Simpson Company of San Antonio served as the structural engineer and R. F. Taylor of Houston as the mechanical engineer.

The actual construction of the building ran relatively smoothly, taking about one year. Groundbreaking ceremonies at the site took place on September 16, 1935. By the winter of 1935, the first of the four floors had been completed and the second floor had been framed. The limestone and granite for the exterior fa9ade was obtained from the local Austin firm of Texas Quarries and installed. The building was expected to be finished by May 1936, but cold weather and other factors delayed completion until September—several weeks later than the government deadline of August 24. The building was formally dedicated and opened to the public on September 22, 1936. The dedication ceremony drew prominent government officials and social figures from all over the state and region. Frank Scofield, the local internal revenue collector, and Congressman J. P. Buchanan, who had lobbied for funding for the building's construction, hosted the ceremony. Tom Miller, Austin's mayor, served as master of ceremonies.^ The next day the community showed its gratitude to Col. H. W. Hackett, First Assistant Public Works Administrator, by making him the guest of honor at Scofield's banquet.

The construction of the new Austin U.S. Courthouse reflected the general economic and idealistic trend, both nationally and in the Austin area. After the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression left mainly jobless and in a general state of hopelessness, but oil production brought economic hope to the region within the year. At the same time. President Franklin Roosevelt introduced his New Deal programs. Most notable among the programs was the Public Works Administration that provided thousands of jobs and funding for public service projects; one of the recipients was the Austin U.S. Courthouse. As a federal undertaking, the construction of the building served as a powerful symbol of U.S. permanence and presence, while also providing employment opportunities during difficult economic times.

Immediately after its completion, the U.S. courthouse housed, among others, the offices of the Collector of Internal Revenue, District No. 1; the Referee in Bankruptcy; and the U.S. Weather Bureau; as well as judicial functions related to the Department of Justice; the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas; the United States Probation Office; and the grand jury room.

The building's most famous tenant arrived in the 1940s when Lyndon B. Johnson, a Johnson City native and future U.S. president, assumed office upon the death of Rep. James Buchanan. As a U.S. congressman, Johnson moved into a suite of second-floor offices in the southwest wing, which he kept until 1949 when he became a U.S. senator. He then moved his offices to the first floor of the wing and remained there until after the beginning of his vice presidency in 1961.

Later, the courthouse housed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Pretrial Service Office, the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. Marshal's Office, and judges' chambers, clerks' offices, and law libraries.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2001.