Austin's Bicentennial Square is better known as the location of the temporary state capitol in the 1880s.
There are a total of 8 historic markers here. The one everybody remembers of for the Temporary State capitol in the 1880s, which also held the first classes for the Univeristy of Texas law School.
The Temporary Capitol marker reads as follows: (
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Site of Temporary Texas State Capitol of 1880's
Built, 1882-1883, to replace the previous Capitol, which had burned in 1881. Until the building was completed, the orphaned Texas Government conducted business in the county courthouse and jail across Congress Avenue.
The three-story brick building--third Texas Capitol in Austin--was used five years. During this time it witnessed the passage of strong legislation to aid education and to halt fence-cutting, which, in 1883, had exploded into a range war. Governors John Ireland (1883-1887) and Sul Ross (1887-1891) both served in this building.
In 1883, the University of Texas held classes here for its 218 students until campus facilities were complete. On another occasion, cattle baron Charles Goodnight loaded $100,000 in cash in a wheel barrow and had it hauled to the capitol to force settlement of a land dispute, but officials refused his offer.
After the present Capitol was finished, 1888, this structure was used as home of Austin High School. Studios for music teachers, and for various offices. When it burned, Sept. 30, 1899, curious spectators sat on the fence around the new Capitol to watch volunteer firemen, hampered by low water pressure fight the blaze. The old building was razed soon after and the bricks were used in structures throughout Austin. (1967)
The University of Texas marker reads as follows: (
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First Classes of the University of Texas Law School
The University of Texas held its first classes in the Temporary Capitol at this site on Sept. 15, 1883. Fifty-two of the 218 original students were registered in the Law department. They were taught by former Governor of Texas Oran M. Roberts (1815-1898) and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Robert S. Gould (1826-1904). Many members of the University's first law class went on to have distinguished careers, including Albert Sidney Burleson, who served as U.S. Postmaster General from 1913 to 1921 and Yancy Lewis, who later returned to serve as a law school professor. (1983)
This area was renamed Bicentennial Square in 1976.
Today it is beautifully landscaped with native plant gardens and benches.