The General Land Office building, constructed in the 1850s, housed the agency responsible for administering the state's vast landholdings. Designed by German architect and Land Office draftsman Christoph Conrad Stremme, it is the oldest surviving state office building. The architecture blends two 19th-century revival styles: the Rundbogenstil, or round-arched style, is reflected in the windows and doors; the Norman style is reflected in the castle-like parapets. The exterior walls are limestone rubble, smoothed over with stucco, then scored to simulate cut stone blocks. By 1918, the General Land Office had moved across 11th Street to larger quarters. From 1919 to 1989, the building housed museums operated by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Following a 1989-92 architectural restoration, the building became the Capitol Complex Visitors Center.
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