Neill-Cochran House
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Greek Revival architecture, typical of the South. Erected about 1853 for Washington L. Hill by master builder Abner Cook. The hand-cut limestone walls were cemented with a mortar containing pig bristles. First Institute for the Blind in State of Texas, 1856. Hospital for Civil War soldiers, 1865. Home in 1880 of Republic of Texas patriot, Col. Andrew Neill; 1893-1913, Judge Thos. B. Cochran, Bar President, Masonic leader. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Master builder Abner Cook raised this Greek Revival mansion of hand-cut limestone around 1853 in the young capital of Austin, using a mortar famously bound with pig bristles. In its early decades it served as Texas's first Institute for the Blind and, in 1865, as a hospital for Civil War soldiers, before becoming home to Republic of Texas figure Col. Andrew Neill and later Judge Thomas B. Cochran. Its walls trace Austin's growth from frontier town to state capital.
Why it matters
Few buildings hold as many threads of early Texas—antebellum architecture, pioneering care for the disabled, and the Civil War—under one roof.
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Related people
- · Abner Cook
- · Andrew Neill
- · Thomas B. Cochran
Themes & tags
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