|
The George
Washington Littlefield Building
601 Congress Avenue,
Austin
Year: 1910
Style: Beaux Arts
Architect: C. H. Page, Jr.
(with considerable coaching from George
Littlefield) |
The Gilded Name
high above Congress Avenue
TE photo, August 2010 |
Foundations
and Pre-construction Facts
In 1839 Edwin Waller
(the namesake of Waller County) used the juncture of 6th Street
and Congress Avenue as the zero-stone for Austin’s
basic grid of streets. The NE corner of this intersection, notorious
for a succession of saloons and gambling houses, was purchased by
George
Littlefield in 1910.
Littlefield
erected his eight-story building (adding a ninth by enclosing a roof-garden)
to house his American National Bank and to provide Austin
with much-needed office space. Littlefield’s
bank had previously been across the alley in the Driskill
Hotel. |
Littlefield Building
TE photo, August 2010 |
Ziller Building
- Tom Moore Cigar Store
Where the Littlefield Building is now.
Old photo courtesy Murray
Montgomery Collection |
Details,
Anecdotes and Trivia
After
completion, the building was (briefly) the tallest building between
New Orleans and San Francisco. (After 1906, it was considerably higher
than almost every building in San Francisco.) |
 |
The upper floors
of the building housed over 300 offices – and chilled water from an
underground spring was piped throughout the building.
Lyndon Baines Johnson was a tenant of the building in 1935 when he
headed the Texas chapter of the National Youth Administration.
The bank lobby held six murals depicting ranch life – the source of
Mr.
Littlefield’s wealth. In addition to the murals – two huge bronze
doors with bas-relief scenes of the Yellow House Ranch were cast by
Tiffany’s and installed in 1911. They were removed in 1960 and donated
to the University of Texas. The last report on the doors was in 1975
when they were put on display in Ashbel Smith Hall on 7th and Colorado
Streets.
The buildings address numerals: 106 E. Sixth and 601 Congress form
a numerical palindrome.
As of this writing (August of 2010) the ground floor of the Littlefield
Building is for lease – reflecting a continuing recession. |
 |
Mystery
Date
According to his military tombstone and every written reference,
Littlefield
was born in 1842 and died in 1920. His family did enter Texas in 1850,
but currently there's no explanation for the year 1923.
TE photo, August 2010 |
Littlefield's
Military Tombstone can be found in front of his grand sarcophagus
in Austin's Oakwood Cemetery
TE
Photo, August 2010 |
For Lease
TE
photo, August 2010 |
The
Littlefield Clock still keeps accurate time.
TE photo, August 2010 |
SCARBROUGH
BUILDING
The Remodeled Scarbrough
Building once competed with the Littlefield Building for Austin's
Tallest. George
Littlefield won the friendly competetion by enclosing a rooftop
garden - thereby adding a ninth floor and beating the Scarbrough by
one. |
Scarbrough Building
- 905 Congress
TE photo, August 2010 |
The
Scarbrough Building's Deco Fascade
TE photo, August 2010 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
