Thirty years after its construction, the building was the working home of William S. Porter, who was later to gain fame as a short story writer under the name of O. Henry. He was a draftsman in the General Land Office, and there he turned out numerous maps of rare beauty.
Later, O. Henry used the Old General Land Office Building in one of his stories, entitled “Bexar Scrip Number 2692”.
Statistically, the old building is 62 by 94 feet, outside dimensions. It has 11,656 feet of floor space in its two floors. Its exterior walls are two feet in width. It is characterized by star-transomed windows.
Moving into the Old General Land Office Building shortly after its completion, the General Land Office occupied the structure until 1918, when it moved into its present building.
A new building to be occupied by the General Land Office and the State Library and Archives is now in the planning stage.
More information about the historic Old General Land Office Building can be obtained from Mr. August Watkins Harris, an Austin architect, 13 Niles Road, Austin, who created the picture (below) and with whose permission it is printed.
PRESENT GENERAL LAND OFFICE BUILDING, 1918
PREFACE
Here is the story of Texas land.