Texas Governors Mansion

The Texas Governor’s Mansion opened in 1856, when Elisha M. Pease became its first resident. Austin was still a young capital, and the two-story Greek Revival house gave the state executive a permanent home near the Capitol grounds. Architect-builder Abner Cook used locally made brick and pine hauled from Bastrop; six tall Ionic columns gave the modestly scaled residence a formal public face. It was designed as a home, but the people who lived there carried the conflicts of Texas government through its rooms.

In 1861, Governor Sam Houston refused to support secession and was removed from office after declining to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. The mansion’s historical marker identifies the decision as one of the consequential events associated with the house. The building did not determine state policy, but it formed part of the setting in which governors lived while confronting it. Over time, successive administrations altered interiors and furnishings while preserving the house as the official residence.