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| Texas Governor's Mansion (2001) |
AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Texas Governor's Mansion located at 1010 Colorado was built in 1856. From 1845 to 1856 the Governors didn't have a "suitable residence". In 1854 the Texas Legislature appropriated $14,500 for construction of a permanent residence for the Governor of Texas. A Greek Revival style building was chosen and designed by Austin master builder Abner Cook, (1814-1884). The bricks used to build the Mansion came from a clay pit on the Colorado River which produced the buff-colored bricks. Abner Cook owned the clay pit as well as the sawmill in Bastrop which supplied the pine lumber from the area forest. Construction was completed on June 14,1856.
Today the Mansion is the oldest remaining public building in downtown Austin. It's the fourth oldest governor's mansion continuously occupied in the United States.
The building has a colorful history since opening in 1856, (Check out the links below.) Paranormal activity includes occupants reporting seeing the former Texas hero, Republic of Texas President, and Governor, Sam Houston in his bedroom in the Mansion. Sam Houston served as governor from 1859 to 1861. The wife and daughter of Governor Mark White had encounters with the spirit of "Old Sam" back in the 80's.
The saddest story of one of the known ghost that inhabits the Mansion began shortly after midnight in 1864, a nephew of Governor Pendleton Murrah (1863-1865), committed suicide with a pistol in an upstairs bedroom. He was only 19 years old and heart broken because of a refused marriage proposal. To this day sounds of footsteps, moaning and cold spots have been reported in that bedroom. In the Mansion doorknobs turning mysteriously.
UPDATE
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| Texas Governor's Mansion after the fire on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in Austin, Texas |
Someone threw a Molotov cocktail on the front porch of the Mansion on June 8, 2008 and the fire cause extensive damage to the historic building.
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