Elijah E. Myers, architect of the Capitol Building. Texas Preservation Board, courtesy of Detroit Public Library.
Elijah Myers planning drawings of Texas Capitol. Scanned by Sharon Farrow from The Capitol Story: Statehouse in Texas.
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Architect
The Capitol Board, who was appointed to oversee the construction of the current capitol, advertised for plan and specifications to be submitted for a new Texas Capitol. Eight architects responded, and after deliberation, the plans of Philadelphia native Elijah Myers were selected (Fowler 40). Elijah Myers was the only architect that submitted plans who had substantial experience. He had designed the Michigan capitol in East Lansing. Elijah Myers was hired as the architect for $12,000 (Fowler 40). After Myers' design was selected, New York architect Napolean LeBrun , who had been hired as a consultant on the project, suggested modifications to the design, including changes in the rotunda, addition of an elevator, increasing the thickness of the interior walls, and refinements of the proportions (Robinson 260). Myers approved the changes and incorporated them into his drawings. In 1886, Myers was fired from the job and Gustav Wilke completed the project using Myers' plans (Austin 92).
Myers is the only architect to have designed three different United States capitols, the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Texas State Capitol in Austin, and the Colorado State Capitol in Denver (State Preservation Board website). Some of his other works are the Parliament building in Rio de Janeiro, an asylum in Mexico City, and various other courthouses and hospitals (Austin 92). |
Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, designed by Elijah Myers. Photo by Sharon Farrow, December 2002.
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