1918 State Office Building - Austin, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Located on 1019 Brazos Street in Austin, TX (southeast of the Texas State Capitol Building), the 1818 State Office building -- also known as the "James Earl Rudder" building -- is a 5-story steel-frame concrete structure built in 1918 to house the offices of various state agencies, including the Agricultural Department, the Texas Highway Department, the Fire Rating Department, and most notably the General Land Office (for which is was primarily designed). It is currently used for the offices of the Secretary of State.

Designed by Atlee Bernard Ayres, one of Texas' most notable 20th century architects, the building originated out of the need to accommodate a new home for the state's General Land Office. This agency, established in 1836 after Texas' independence from Mexico, has complete control over the state's public lands and contributes to the Permanent School Fund in support of the state's public school system. The General Land Office resided in four prior venues before construction of its new location here.

Since the land office was responsible for holding irreplaceable records -- namely original maps, field notes, and papers pertaining to land grants and sales of properties, as well as all Public Lands records -- the new building was required to be absolutely fireproof. This was accomplished by solely using reinforced concrete for the entire frame and all the floors and only stone or brick for the walls, by erecting steel window frames, and only installing steel furniture throughout the building itself (which was painted to look like mahogany, in order to give the place a less dreary feel to it all).

Rather than constructing a building solely for land office use, officials took this opportunity to make the new venue large enough to relieve overcrowding in other government offices as well. This is how the Agricultural Department moved into the 1st floor, the Texas Highway Department moved to the 2nd floor, the Fire Rating Department occupied the 3rd floor, and the General Land Office occupied the rest of the new structure -- hence the building's name as "State Office Building" rather than just "General Land Office Building".

All these state agencies eventually relocated elsewhere around the city of Austin, up to and including the General Land Office itself (although, as previously mentioned, the building is still in use today as the office of the Secretary of State). While historically still known as the "1918 State Office Building", it was re-dedicated in 1988 in honor of US Army Major General James Earl Rudder (1910-1970) who served as the state's Land Commissioner during the tumultuous 1955-1958 period and single-handedly reformed and revamped that state office which was under scrutiny for mismanagement and corruption at that time.

Below is a full description of the historic building, per the official NRHP records:

"The State Office Building is a modern 5-story steel-frame building, finished in the Classical Revival style with brick, limestone and cast iron ornamentation on its two most visible elevations (north and west). A full basement is partially exposed on the west and south sides of the building, due to the south-sloping grade of the site. In contrast to the Classically-derived exterior and formal entrance, the building’s interior featured a modern open plan, since modified by the addition of offices. The fifth floor, originally a mezzanine, was covered and converted to a full floor in a subsequent renovation, but was reopened in 1989, though not to original specifications. Despite the replacement of original glazing with dark glass, original steel sash window frames remain intact. The building retains a high degree of architectural and historic integrity.

Designed by noted Texas architect Atlee B. Ayres, it is a combination steel-frame and poured-in-place reinforced concrete building. The foundation is concrete. The exterior is ornately finished with brick, cast iron and limestone elements on its north (E. 11th St.) and west (Brazos St.) elevations, with unadorned brick on its south and east elevations. The building is square in plan (measuring 120’ by 120’), and has a flat roof. The building is not set back significantly from the public sidewalks. Main entrances are set at the top of granite steps at the building’s northwest corner, in an angle pointing towards the Capitol, with a double entry door on the westernmost bay of the north elevation, and matching doors on the northernmost bay of the east elevation.

The basement is flush with the sloping grade of the east and west sides. On the south side, the basement serves as a full ground floor. On the north elevation, the ground floor is at grade, while an areaway provides light for the full basement. The areaway is surrounded at street level by a metal railing.

The north elevation and west elevation are similarly organized and finished, with an ashlar stone base on the basement and ground levels. Both elevations feature seven bays: six windows and a doorway. All doorways and ground-floor windows feature arched ashlar openings of identical width, topped with projecting scrolled keystones. The main entrances feature double metal pocket doors, which cover metal doors with clear glazing and decorative metal grills. Each pair of doors is set within a cast iron arch, topped by a transom. The transom ornamentation features a five-point star set between horizontal scrolls, and topped by an anthemion.

Each ground-floor window opening consists of three 1/1 steel sash windows, with the center window wider than the flanking windows, topped by a 3-light transom. Below each window are three recessed limestone panels. The top of the ground floor is defined by a Greek key band.

The second, third, and fourth floors on the north and west elevations feature five bays set back between brick corner pavilions. The pavilions are overlaid by simple stone pilasters, which frame three 1/1 sash windows, each topped with a transom window. The five center bays are recessed, and each bay features a set of three steel 1/1 sash windows. Cast iron mullions (painted white), feature mascarons at the top of each window. Second- and third-floor windows feature foliated finials, and are topped with 3-light transoms. Three-story-tall fluted stone Ionic columns separate each of the five central bays. Cast iron spandrels between the second, third and fourth floors feature festoon ornamentation. Each spandrel is separated by cast iron mullions in the shape of elongated projecting scrolls.

The fifth floor is located within the entablature, which features small rectangular windows, grouped in sets of three, and covered with aluminum grills. As in the lower floors, the center window in each trio is larger than its flanking windows. Each set of windows is separated by a decorative cast iron panel. No windows are above the fourth-floor level of the corner pavilions.

The cornice features scroll, pearl, and egg-and-dart molding. The soffit ornamentation consists of dentils and florets. The top of the cornice is brick, with square limestone panels corresponding to the pattern of pilasters and columns on the lower floors.

The south and east elevations front alleyways, and are finished with dark red brick. The limestone cornice and skirting on the west and north elevations wrap around and terminate approximately two feet past the corners. Each elevation has 14 bays, with identical 1/1 steel sash windows and limestone sills. Ground and basement windows are covered with metal bars. All windows on the south and east sides are 3/3. The first three levels of windows on the south elevation are topped with 3-light transoms. Two window bays on the east elevation have been covered with metal grills.

The interior lobby, entered from the northwest corner, is a square groin vault, resting on boxed pilasters in each corner. The pilaster capitals feature egg-and-dart molding. An elaborate copper-alloy and glass hanging lamp is suspended from the center of the ceiling. The ceiling and frieze are covered with terra cotta reliefs, painted ochre, gold, brown and green. This ornamentation is Adam-style, featuring festoons and other foliated designs. The lobby has intricate marble floors, and retains the original marble primary circulation staircase, with a cast metal railing and matching marble newel posts, which are fluted columns topped with spheres. Above the stairs is an clock, set within a painted terra cotta wreath. A band of horizontal terra cotta panels runs along the lobby walls depicting wrapped bundles of oak leaves and acorns. A smaller lobby, east of the main lobby, contains an elevated marble reception booth with a metal grill. An ornate metal letterbox and chute are on the east wall.

The original floor plan consisted of one large open room on each floor, since infilled with offices. The fourth floor originally had an 18-foot ceiling, with a 20-foot-wide mezzanine surrounded by a detailed iron railing. Fourteen skylights served the dual functions of lighting and ventilation. In the 1ate 1950s, the mezzanine and skylights were closed to maximize the utility of the building. In the late 1980s, the fifth floor was cut through to recreate the mezzanine, but the relocation of elevators from the edge of the building towards the center, and the retention of offices, resulted in a mezzanine much wider than the original 20 feet. Many of the skylights have been uncovered.

The original placement of restrooms in the northwest corner of the building, gave them a commanding view of the State Capitol Building. Originally located in this prime spot for the sake of ventilation, they were converted into spacious offices in 1986. A second fire stair was also added during the renovation, allowing the two exterior fire escapes to be removed.

The State Office Building retains integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, feeling, and association. Most of the building’s distinctive architectural fabric, including metal pocket doors and inner cast iron grilles, and cast iron lamps at the entrance) remains. While the window glazing has been replaced with smoked glass, the original steel windows are intact."

Street address: 1019 Brazos Street Austin, TX USA 78701 County / Borough / Parish: Travis County Year listed: 1998 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Government / Government Office Current function: Government / Government Office Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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