The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960 Page: 431
684 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The City of Austin on the Eve of the Civil War
mated cost of the building, including furniture, was $15o,ooo.9
The building was destroyed by fire on November 9, 1881.
West and to the rear of the capitol was a one-story, rough
stone building of six rooms which housed the Department of
State. East and to the rear of the capitol was the two-story treasury
building, which had twelve rooms, with strong vaults in the
basement. The building also housed offices of the auditor and
comptroller.0
The executive mansion was located on the same lot on which
it currently stands, but the grounds were more spacious and the
lawn was enclosed by wooden palings."
A number of vacant lots remained on Congress Avenue on the
blocks immediately in front of the capitol. Just down the Avenue
from the capitol was the Alhambra Building, a two-story stone
building which the editor of the Gazette called the "neatest build-
ing on Congress Avenue."12 Across the Avenue was the Last
Chance Southern Confederate Restaurant, and in the same vicinity
was G. Kirchberg's Saloon, with a brewery located in the rear.
One of the largest buildings in Austin was on the east side of
Congress Avenue between Hickory (Eighth) and Ash (Ninth)
Streets. The building, erected by S. M. Swenson in 1854, was
made of white limestone and concrete and had three stories. The
Gazette called the building "an ornament to the City."s In the
upper two floors of the Swenson Building was the Avenue Hotel,
operated by John S. Proctor and William G. Thomas. The hotel
was sometimes called Scott's Hotel when W. D. Scott became a
co-proprietor. Also in the building was Francis T. Duffau's Drug
Store, frequent advertiser in the Texas State Gazette and the
Southern Intelligencer. Just before the Federal blockade closed
Galveston shipping, Duffau received "the largest assortment of
drugs, books, stationery and other articles in his line, ever brought
here during any one previous season."14 Palm Brothers and Com-
pany was in the Swenson Building next to Duffau's. Operated
9Francis Richard Lubbock, Six Decades in Texas (Austin, 19goo), 342.
lolbid.
"Ilbid., 343.
12Texas State Gazette, March 12, 1859, p. 2.
18lbid., July 1, 1854, p. 324.
14lbid., April 6, 1861, p. 3-.431
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960, periodical, 1960; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101186/m1/537/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.