LBJ Presidential Library

one consequence of traveling with college friends who also studied political science is that when one visits a city with a Presidential Library, that Presidential Library comes up as a tour prospect. it also means you have much greater, more interesting context for the LBJ presidential years than what the library presents to you, which is a little exhilarating.LBJ Archive

the library and museum are administered by the   National Archives and include more than 45 million items, primarily from LBJ but also from close associates. the Library, situated adjacent to the LBJ School of Public Affairs on the University of Texas – Austin campus, was dedicated in 1971 with Johnson and Nixon in attendance. the core of the building is a remarkable four-story, glass-encased view of the archive’s holdings. quite a different presentation than the one I got to see first hand in the Wisconsin Historical Society archives – impressively illuminated and with each archival box featuring the Presidential Seal.LBJ's Oval Office

the top floor features is a 7/8th replica of the Oval Office as it appeared during Johnson’s presidency, including a cabinet with enough televisions installed to show all major networks simultaneously (you know, the 4 or 5 of them). in the corner of the building of that same floor, overlooking the football stadium, is Lady Bird Johnson’s office, preserved as she used it until her death in 2007.

Lady Bird's Office

Buford Tower

sucker that I am for buildings with interesting historical backgrounds, one of the sites I found most interesting on our amphibious tour of Austin was the Buford Tower on West Chavez Street. our driver, an admitted former firefighter, pointed out the building in passing – something the force used previously for training purposes – but I was curious to learn more.

Buford Tower
Buford Tower against Austin skyline

built in 1930, it was used for practice for nearly five decades before being replaced by another structure elsewhere in town. it stood disused for several years until the widow of the man  who designed the tower donated money to have it refurbished and to have the upper floors converted for use as a carillon tower. it’s name honors James Buford, a captain who drowned attempting to rescue a 15-year-old from flood waters in Shoal Creek. now, it’s an interesting, incongruous site against the modern structures of downtown Austin.

Congress Avenue Bats

each year when my friends and I get together, we try to do quirky things in the city we visit, in addition to more traditionally touristy stuff. I’m not sure where on the spectrum visiting the Congress Avenue bat colony falls … quirky for sure, but also very popular! the colony consists of between 750,000 and a million and a half Mexican free-tailed bats; they summer in Austin and migrate to Mexico for the winter. Sunset OverLady Bird Lake

for all appearances, the bridge doesn’t seem terribly special; three lanes in each direction over Lady Bird Lake in a spot that has hosted a bridge since the early 1870s (a pontoon toll bridge). the City of Austin assumed complete responsibility over the (newer, iron) bridge in the late 1880s, which they were forced to repair several times over the subsequent two decades. by 1908, increase in traffic demanded the construction of a newer, wider bridge and a proposal for the current concrete span bridge were drawn up. at 910 feet it includes six spans which rise to 45 feet above ground; it opened on April 4, 1910.

Waiting for bats

the bats came to live under the bridge following refurbishment that occurred in 1980. there are fifteen crevices beneath the roadbed, each about 17 inches deep, which appealed to the bats and offered about 14,000 feet of potential habitat. the bats emerge from their roosts each dusk to search for food, swarming out towards the east for 10 or 20 minutes. tourists congregate on the bridge’s sidewalks, in the parking lot of the Austin-American Statesman, and on boats in Lady Bird Lake. we opted to stand on the sidewalk (near a family with two young boys calling out to the bats “hey, bats, come out so we can see you!”), but saw a fair few people out on water bikes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, paddle boats, canoes, and one paddling swan. we ended up waiting about an hour before the bats emerged, but in the interim the sunset off to the west provided a remarkable diversion .

Texas seems to have a thing for symbols. it has flown under six different flags since first settled by Europeans, though without a doubt the one representing the Republic of Texas is the most important. the seals for all six were incorporated into the terrazzo floors of the rotunda after a remodel in the 1930s–Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. (prior to the terrazzo floors, the floor was glass bricks laid out in an octagonal pattern; the original concept is preserved on the ceiling of the ground floor immediately below the rotunda. must say the new floor is much more impressive.)

the hinges of the doors — again, originals — make sure you know where you are. and the knobs have the state seal imprinted on them as well.

capitol rotunda

the star at the top of the capitol dome in Austin is 8 feet across and is 218 feet up. on the other side (on the top of the dome), there is a statue known as the Goddess of Liberty. the original was made of iron and was raised to the top by hand (the guide did not specify what, precisely “by hand” might mean); it is now in the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum up the street and a replacement of aluminium stands in her stead. she holds a five-pointed star, the symbol of Texas.
the rotunda is also, apparently, a whispering gallery, though we didn’t test this out. the portraits of all the presidents and governors of Texas line the walls of the rotunda, shifting one to the right with each new office-holder. on the first floor there is a bust of the first female governor of the state — Ma Ferguson — who served twice, from 1925-27 and 1933-35. (it took nearly sixty years for another woman to reach the post — Ann Richards served 1991-95.)

more on the Statehouse

designed at the end of the 19th century, Myers incorporated electricity into the design of the Austin capitol. he argued that, as a technology, electricity was here to stay. others disagreed, skeptical that anything they might build would “last for generations” and warrant incorporating this new technology. also, they were understandably nervous about the prospect of electrifying the statehouse when the previous one had burned to the ground. as a compromise, Myers was convinced to add natural gas fixtures to his design as well.

as a result, the light fixtures in both the Assembly and Senate chambers are original. in more ways than one.

the Texas Legislature only meets for 140 days, beginning the second Tuesday of January every other year. this year is not a year they are meeting, so the capitol was very quiet. apparently committees still meet during the interim, and if you want to get legislation passed, you have to make damn sure it’s ready to go the second your peers return to work.

the Texas Statehouse

designed by Elijah Myers in 1881 (who was later all but fired from the project), the current statehouse in Texas was completed in 1888. the previous structure burned to the ground and the fledgling state did not have the funds to pay for construction of a new building. instead, a barter transaction granted over three million acres of ranch land to people who could provide the construction material and manpower to complete the project. that acreage became the XIT Ranch, at one time the largest cattle ranch in the world (and mentioned in Timothy Egan’s Worst Hard Time). initially, the facade was intended to be limestone but, when this proved undesirable due to discoloration, it was replaced by the now distinctive red granite from Marble Falls.

the building has nearly 900 windows and more square footage than any other state capitol building. it’s slightly smaller than the capitol in D.C., but is 15 feet taller.