Claudia Taylor Johnson Hall
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Claudia Taylor Johnson Hall The University of Texas System Constructed during the period 1912-1914. This building was the seventh United States post office location in Austin, Texas. The supervising architect for the neo-classical revival style structure was James Knox Taylor of the U.S. Treasury Department. It was built by Dieter and Wenzel Construction Company of Wichita, Kansas, at a cost of $172,987. The land cost $40,000. Following construction of a new post office and federal building in 1965, the building was given to the University of Texas system by the federal government; it was remodeled into administrative offices by the university in 1970. The building was named in honor of Claudia Taylor Johnson, wife of the 36th president of the United States of America.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built between 1912 and 1914 as Austin's seventh U.S. post office, this neo-classical revival building was designed under Treasury supervising architect James Knox Taylor and raised by a Kansas construction firm for nearly $173,000. When a new federal building opened in 1965, the government handed it to the University of Texas System, which remodeled it into administrative offices in 1970. It was later named for Claudia 'Lady Bird' Taylor Johnson, wife of the 36th U.S. president.
Why it matters
The building shows how a single civic landmark can serve a city across generations—federal post office, then university hall—while honoring a First Lady long celebrated for her own work in conservation and public life.
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Related people
- · Claudia Taylor Johnson
- · James Knox Taylor
Themes & tags
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