Texas Governor's Mansion

History

The mansion is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Texas and fourth oldest governor's mansion in the United States that has been continuously occupied by a chief executive. The mansion was the first-designated Texas historic landmark, in 1962. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Governor's Mansion" in 1970, and further was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1974.

Original architecture

Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens. The original mansion was 6000 sqft. Remodeling in 1914 increased the size of the mansion to 8920 sqft. The original mansion had 11 rooms but no bathrooms. The remodeling brought the room count to 25 rooms and seven bathrooms. In 1931, at the recommendation of former Texas First Lady Mildred Paxton Moody, the Texas Legislature established the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee all interior and exterior upkeep and enhancements to the mansion. The Board was abolished in 1965, and its responsibilities transferred to the Texas Commission on the Arts.

2008 fire

The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008, caused by a Molotov cocktail. Governor Rick Perry and his wife Anita Thigpen Perry were in Europe at the time of the fire. They had relocated in October 2007 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2008. The project was to include a fire suppression system. State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building.

On February 17, 2011, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw announced that two persons of interest had been identified as the arsonists. However, ultimately no one was charged with a crime resulting from the fire. According to Travis County Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox, who led the arson investigation, the ten-year statute of limitations on felony arson in Texas has since expired, saying "chances are, they got away with it."

In May 2009, $22 million was allocated to the restoration of the Governor's Mansion, $11 million of which came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An additional $3.4 million was raised through private fund raising. The restoration was completed in 2012.

References

Citations

Sources

• "The Texas Governor's Mansion," The Magazine ANTIQUES, July 2006.

References

1. {{NRISref. 2008a
2. Chambers, Allen. (August 14, 1974). ["National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: The Governor's Mansion"]({{NHLS url). National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url.
3. "Texas Governor's Mansion History".
4. "TSHA {{!}} Board of Mansion Supervisors".
5. December 2008 0, Pamela Colloff. (2008-12-01). "The Unusual Suspects".
6. Kreytak, Steven. (2011-02-17). "DPS: Anarchists linked to arson at Governor's Mansion".
7. Ramshaw, Emily. (10 September 2008). "Texas Governor's Mansion fire probe turns to Austin men arrested at Republican convention". Dallas Morning News.
8. Garcia-Buckalew, Bob. (26 September 2019). "Who set fire to the Texas Governor's Mansion? The 11-year-old mystery still baffles investigators.". KVUE-TV Austin.
9. "Texas Governor's Mansion Restoration".