Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas

In a state where just about everything is BIG, the Texas Statehouse is huge - larger in gross square footage than any other state capitol in America. In height it exceeds the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C. by 15 feet.Rising majestically from one of the highest points in Austin, the Texas Capitol is an extraordinary example of late 19th century public architecture and is widely recognized as one of the nation's most distinguished state capitols. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 for its "significant contribution to American history."

The Capitol building, in the Renissance Revival style, was completed in 1888 as the winning design from a national competition. The exterior of the building is "sunset red" granite, quarried just 50 miles from the site. Texas paid for the construction not in dollars, but in land: some three million acres in the Texas Panhandle that would later become the famous XIT Ranch. A $75 million underground Capitol Extension was completed in 1993, doubling the square footage of the Capitol complex and providing room for more rampant government growth. In 1995, a comprehensive interior and exterior restoration of the original building was completed at a cost of approximately $98 million.

The park-like grounds surrounding the Capitol underwent an $8 million renovation and restoration in 1997. Much of this expansion took place during the administration of then Governor George W. Bush, who had never been timid about spending the taxpayer's money.