In 1839, the second elected president of the Republic of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, sent Edwin Waller to develop the new capital for the Republic. The site-selection commission chose an area in the western frontier along the Colorado River. Waller and his surveyors chose a 640-acre site near the settlement called Waterloo, and the new capital was named Austin, in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Waller laid out the city plan in a fourteen block grid with the capitol square reserved where Congress Avenue ended at the north edge of town.
President Lamar instructed Waller to construct a capitol building and residence for the president before November 1839 when the fourth Congress of the Republic was to convene at the new capital.
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| Temporary capitol of the Republic of Texas |
Waller did not have enough time to build a permanent capitol building at the capitol square, so he constructed a temporary small, one-story wooden building at Hickory (now known as Eighth Street) and Colorado Streets overlooking Congress Avenue.
Chartered in 1839, Austin elected Waller as its first mayor in 1840. It was a frontier town back then, and Austin's elected officials had little time for meetings: records show that constables had to round them up to force their attendance. Though Austin did not have a city hall at that time, City meetings and activities occurred in the Republic's temporary capitol building.
The third president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, took office in 1841. Houston was not a supporter of Austin as the capital and moved the capital to Houston and then to Washington-on-the-Brazos. The move continued to be controversial, and after much debate, the 1845 Constitution of the Republic of Texas reestablished the capital in Austin and the Congress made plans to convene the tenth Congress in Austin in the fall of 1845.
By summer, interest in statehood for Texas was gaining momentum. Anson Jones, the fourth Republic of Texas President, called the Congress and elected delegates to Austin to debate the issue. Their final vote was in favor of annexation by the United States. By August, they had drawn up and ratified a state constitution. On December 29, 1845, the U.S. Congress granted statehood to Texas.
President Anson Jones formally transferred the power of government to Governor James Pinckney Henderson in Austin at the temporary capitol building on Eighth and Colorado Streets on February 19, 1846.
The fledgling State of Texas continued to use the temporary capitol building as its capitol until the new capitol building was completed in 1853 on the Republic’s original capitol square.
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| Austin's first permanent City Hall opened in 1871 |
In 1856, the State of Texas no longer needed the temporary capitol and gave the land to the City of Austin with the stipulation that the City construct a “neat and commodious City Hall and Market House” on the site. The act also stipulated that the property would revert to the State of Texas if it were ever used for any other purpose than a City Hall.
The temporary wooden capitol structure was sold in 1857 and dismantled in 1858. Some of the materials were reused to build the market house on the site and a house on Pine Street (now known as Fifth Street). The second floor of the market house was used as a City Hall until a free-standing building could be built.
The market house was torn down in 1870 for construction of a permanent City Hall. The new stone City Hall building opened in 1871 and also housed a fire station and an opera house. When the building was just a few years old, a large population of bats moved in and the building was nicknamed "the rookery."
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| 1907 City Hall next to the Central Fire Station |
After 37 years of service, the City Hall building was demolished and replaced on May 6, 1907 with a new Beaux-Arts style City Hall designed by emerging Austin architect Charles Henry Page. The three-story brick and stone building had a vault, a jail on the top floor and a partial basement.
By the 1930s, the City of Austin had outgrown the 1907 City Hall building and Page was again hired in 1938 to design the new building that incorporated the structure of the old building. Page & Southerland Architects designed the new building with a limestone exterior in the Art Moderne style which was popular at the time. The new design added two three-story wings and a one-story wing that encapsulated the old building, creating a courtyard that opened out to the east. A small elevator was added to replace an exterior stairwell used to transfer inmates to the third floor jail. Federal funding for the project was secured through the Public Works Administration with the help of Mayor Tom Miller, Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson and others. Though the building was Austin’s formal City Hall, it was also referred to as the “Municipal Building” as all City departments were housed at this one location.
1948 Municipal Building and City Hall
In 1949, Page and his architect firm, Page Southerland Page, were hired for a third time to design an expansion. A second and third story was added over the remaining one-story wing on the northeast corner of the building. At an unknown later date, another vertical expansion was built in the courtyard space.
The 1967 State Legislature removed the 1856 provision stipulating that the Eighth and Congress site be used by the City only for the purpose of a City Hall.
The City of Austin was again bursting at the seams and relocated the Council Chambers and staff offices to the Municipal Annex in 1974. The Municipal Building remained Austin’s City Hall for another 30 years and still stands today.
The planning stages for a municipal office complex covering more than three city blocks began in 1984, however the plans were scrapped by the City Council in 1985 due to the collapse of the nationwide real estate market.
When the economy was booming in 1998, City Council began planning for a new City Hall building on the site of the Municipal Annex. This marked the first time that City Hall would not be located at the historic Eighth and Colorado Street site.
In March 2000, internationally-renowned architect, Antoine Predock was selected to design the new City Hall. The limestone and copper four-story Modern style building opened in 2004 and features an outdoor stage, public plaza and 3-story underground parking garage.
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