The walk leaves the start at the hotel and heads across the bridge.
Angry clouds threaten rain above Lady Bird Lake.
The new Austin City Hall and public plaza graces the shores of Lady Bird Lake.
It was completed in the fall of 2004.
This Federal Courthouse completed in 2012 is an eight-story building of stone and glass.
First house on Bremond Street which is
designated as a “National Register Historic District”.
Side entrance to the Austin Historical Center. Opened as the official Austin Public Library in 1933 and served as the main library until 1979.
Hirschfield Honeymoon Cottage.
This two-story brick and cut stone house was began in 1885 and the Hirshfield moved in from the honeymoon cottage next door. It features characteristics of Victorian and Eastlake styling. Exterior ornamentation includes a double gallery, a bay, strained glass, ornate woodwork, and intricate limestone detailing.
The Governor’s Mansion was completed in 1856, and Governor Pease moved in on June 15 of that year. It has been continually occupied by the successive Governors of Texas and their families from that time on. The building was heavily damaged by an ansonist in 2008. It is now restored.
The Capitol Building of the Great State of Texas. Completed in 1888, the building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style. Modeled on the design of the national capitol in Washington, D.C., the building features a dome at the crossing of its major axes.
We walked through a city block where the temporary State Capitol was located during the building of the current state capitol. There are numerous historical markers in this area.
We entered the capitol grounds.
This Volunteer Firemen’s Monument was originally placed and dedicated on the south yard of the Texas State Capitol in 1896, making it one of the oldest monuments present on the Capitol grounds. However, in 1905, the monument was downsized. It was redesigned, made shorter, and the statue was replaced with the one seen today. This was done to make this monument more consistent with the other three major statues that form the focal points of the Grand Walk around the south lawn. Formerly a granite statue upon the base, it was replaced with the bronze image we see now. This made all four sculptures on the four major monuments the same style, with granite bases and bronze statues.
Few visitors to the Texas State Capitol realize that the famous statue on top of the capitol’s dome is actually just a replica of the 1881 original that got relocated to a nearby museum back in 1986.
Large exhibit with numerous sculptures of men, women, children, and various domestic animals commemorate the contributions of Tejanos to the formation and growth of the State of Texas. Erected on Courthouse lawn in 2012.
Life size marble statue of Sam Houston inside the Capitol Building.
The view under the dome of the Texas State capitol.
The plaque on the base reads: With the faith and courage of their forefathers who made possible the freedom of these United States, The Boy Scouts of America dedicate this copy of the Statue of Liberty as a pledge of everlasting fidelity and loyalty. The Crusade to Strengthen Liberty. 1951.
This Memorial honors the 830,000 Texans who served in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II, the more than 22,000 who gave their lives and the millions who supported the war effort from home.
Leaving the capitol grounds our walk continued over to University of Texas campus.
Littlefield Fountain dedicated in 1933 as a World War 1 Memorial fountain; it has since become an icon representing the University of Texas and its Austin campus.
UT Main Building and Library. The Board of Regents approved the design in 1933. Work began the following year, but the new main building wasn’t completed until 1937 with help from the WPA.
The chairs are set up for the commencement exercises which will begin shortly.
A statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the UT Austin east mall.
Fountain on the UT Austin East Mall.
Texas Memorial Stadium was built in 1923 as a war memorial honoring ALL Texans who served in WWI. This doughboy statue stands near one of the entrances on 23rd street.
University of Texas Geyser Fountain with the LBJ Library behind it.
This stone head is a full-scale stone reproduction of Olmec Colossal Head No. 1, found in Veracruz, Mexico. This replica head was a gift to the Latin American Studies program at UT Austin in 2008.
The Art of Persuasion: A Portrait of Lydon Baines Johnson by Joshua Krezinski, 2011. Stand outside the LBJ Library.
Nice statue in the Alumni Center Courthyard.
Hope Sculpture in the Alumni Center Courtyard.
Pretty flowering bush/tree.
The original Santa Rita No. 1 — discovery well of the vast oil riches that lay underneath the remote, desolate public lands owned by the University of Texas in Reagan County — was moved to the UT campus in 1958.
Leaving the UT campus we head back toward the hotel where the walk started.
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum with 3 floors of interactive exhibits, an IMAX theater, cafe & gift shop.
This beautiful church was built in 1883. It is listed in the National Register of Historic. It was acquired by the State of Texas in 1965 and now serves as the Texas Historical Commission’s library.
We cross back over the capitol grounds to continue down Congress Avenue.
Replica of the fountain that was on an Artesian Well on the Courthouse Lawn. The Replica is on the public water system.
Mural decorating a wall around a construction area at 8th Street.
This statue of Austinite Angelina Eberly stands on Congress Avenue just south of the Texas State Capitol building. Sculpted by Patrick Oliphant, this sculpture portrays the innkeeper as she saved Austin as the capital city. Sam Houston, then President of the Republic of Texas, had sent soldiers to Austin to take the government archives to his namesake city. When Eberly saw the men loading the government documents in their wagons, she fired the town cannon on the corner of what’s now Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, blowing a hole in the building of the Land Office. A awakened citizens formed a posse and they recovered the documents so that Austin remained the state capitol.
Scattered around Austin are numerous larger than life decorated Guitars. Here are three that we passed while doing our walk.
We had a good walk, and didn’t even get rained on!
