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O Henry Hall
The University of Texas System
Built during the period 1877-1881 as a Federal Courthouse and Post Office,
this was the sixth United States Post Office location in Austin dating
from the establishment of the first Post Office in Austin in 1840. The Build-
ing was constructed by Abner Cook, famed early Texas builder, at a cost
of $200,000. James G. Hill of the U.S. Treasury Department was the super-
rising architect. Following construction of the new Post Office at 210
West Sixth Street in 1912-1914, the building continued to be used as a court-
house and later for miscellaneous Federal agencies until 1968. Given to the
University of Texas System by the Federal Government, the building was re-
stored by the University in 1971 and named O'Henry Hall after William
Sydney Porter, a noted American short story writer whose pseudonym was
O'Henry and whose trial was held here in the Federal Courthouse.
Architecturally, the building is considered to be of a national significance be-
cause of its exact symmetry and pure lines apparently inspired by the design
of Italian High Renaissance palaces popular in the late 1870's. Compared to
typical architecture design of Federal Courthouses in this period, this
building is unique in Texas and the nation.
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