Brown Building
708 Colorado St., Austin, TXIn 1938 Herman Brown commissioned local architects C.H. Page and Son to design an office tower as the Austin headquarters for his financial enterprises, among them the construction firm of Brown & Root. Founded as a road building venture two decades previously. Brown & Root evolved into one of the largest construction companies in the world. They relied heavily on government contracts during this period, using political connections to gamer commissions for large projects such as the Marshall Ford, Granite Shoals and Marble Falls dams, as well as various highway, bridge, pipeline and pumping station projects throughout the state. Their new Art Moderne office tower placed Brown & Root at the political heart of the state capitol, within easy walking distance of city hall, county and federal courthouses and the halls of state government. Increasing financial success during World War II and in the immediate postwar period twice prompted expansion of the building in accordance with the architect's original design. The resultant composition proved one of Austin's finest examples of the Art Moderne style, with an address highly prized by the state's political and business elite. As a result, it is nominated at the local level of significance under Criterion A in the area of Commerce and under Criterion C in the Area of Architecture.
Bibliography
Austin City Directory. Various dates. Austin History Center, Austin, Texas.
Blankenhorn, Dana. "Houston's Founding Fortunes." Houston Business Journal, 19 March 1979.
"Brown and Root Inc. Magnate Dies at 84." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 January 1983.
Brown Family Biography Files. Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
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.