Qualla: Texas State Capitol https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/six-flags-texas-emblem.jpg Qualla: Texas State Capitol https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol Texas State Capitol: Introduction https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0. The builders of the Texas State Capitol were not paid in cash. They were paid in land -- more than three million acres of it, out in the Panhandle, a tract so vast it became the XIT Ranch, the largest cattle ranch in the world. This was one of the biggest barter transactions in recorded history, authorized by an article of the Texas constitution adopted in 1876 to fund a capitol worthy of the state's ambitions. The total cost, counting the land and all expenses, came to $3.7 million. What Texas got in return was a building that stands taller than the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., sheathed in sunset-red granite, and dedicated on San Jacinto Day 1888 with a speech by Senator Temple Houston, son of Sam Houston himself.

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Image: Michael Barera | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Texas State Capitol: Four Capitols and a Fire https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit LoneStarMike, CC BY-SA 3.0. The current building is the fourth to serve as the Texas capitol in Austin. The first was a two-room wooden structure at the corner of Eighth and Colorado streets that had housed the government of the Republic of Texas and continued in use after statehood. A limestone replacement...

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Image: LoneStarMike | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-four-capitols-and-a-fire.mp3 0:06 2 full Texas State Capitol: The Granite That Came by Crooked Rail https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit Aleksandr Zykov from Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0. The original plan called for the building to be clad in limestone quarried from Oatmanville, present-day Oak Hill, about ten miles to the southwest. But the Hill Country limestone had a fatal flaw: its high iron content caused ugly rust stains when exposed to weather. Business pa...

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Image: Aleksandr Zykov from Russia | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-the-granite-that-came-by-crooked-rail.mp3 0:06 3 full Texas State Capitol: Guarding the View https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit Randall Chancellor, CC BY-SA 2.0. Texas takes the visibility of its capitol personally. In 1931, Austin enacted an ordinance limiting building heights to preserve the capitol's visual preeminence on the skyline. The rule held for three decades until 1962, when developers announced the Westgate Tower, a high-rise ...

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Image: Randall Chancellor | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-guarding-the-view.mp3 0:06 4 full Texas State Capitol: Fire, a Goddess, and an Underground Expansion https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit Jsg1224, CC BY-SA 3.0. On February 6, 1983, a fire broke out in the apartment of Lieutenant Governor William P. Hobby Jr. inside the capitol. A guest of Hobby's was killed, and four firemen and a policeman were injured. The blaze came dangerously close to destroying the building, which was packed with ...

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Image: Jsg1224 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-fire-a-goddess-and-an-underground-expansion.mp3 0:06 5 full Texas State Capitol: Monument and Living Government https://qualla.com/texas-state-capitol/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The capitol grounds tell their own stories through a collection of monuments: Terry's Texas Rangers, the Heroes of the Alamo, Hood's Texas Brigade, the Volunteer Firemen, and the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument, dedicated in 2014. A granite monument bearing the Ten Comman...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/v/6/k/texas-state-capitol-wp/9v6k-texas-state-capitol-monument-and-living-government.mp3 0:06 6 full