Sampson Building
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Completed in 1860 by master builder Abner Cook, this structure first housed the general merchandise store of George W. Sampson (1825-1883) and Abram Henricks. After Henrick's death in 1865, Sampson maintained an office here, and leased the remainder of the building for other commercial and professional enterprises. The Italianate structure, which features arched windows and fine stonework, has remained in the Sampson family for more than 100 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Master builder Abner Cook completed this structure in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, to house the general merchandise store of George W. Sampson and Abram Henricks. After Henricks died in 1865, Sampson kept an office here and leased out the rest for other commercial and professional tenants. Its Italianate arched windows and fine stonework have watched over the street while the building stayed in the Sampson family for well over a century.
Why it matters
Built by one of Austin's most important early builders and held by one family for generations, the store is a rare survivor of the antebellum commercial city and a study in continuity across enormous change.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George W. Sampson
- · Abram Henricks
- · Abner Cook
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Walter Tips Company Building
Austin, TX
German-born Walter Tips came to America as a child in 1849 and, after Confederate service in the Civil War, took over his late brother's Austin hardware business in 1872. This handsome commercial block, designed by noted architect Jasper N. Preston and built in 1876–77, showcased Victorian Italianate style with Gothic touches, cast-iron interior columns, and an upper floor housing a Masonic lodge room and a 400-seat auditorium. Tips went on to the Texas Senate and helped found the Austin National Bank; his company occupied the building until 1927.
Norwood Tower
Austin, TX
When it opened in 1929, the Norwood Tower was the tallest building in downtown Austin apart from the State Capitol. Developer Ollie O. Norwood hired the firm of Giesecke and Harris to design a Gothic Revival office tower of pre-cast concrete, dressed with a rose window, tracery, finials, and gargoyles. Its tenants ranged from drugstores and doctors to firms like Brown & Root, and former Governor Dan Moody kept his law office there; the top floors even held apartments.
Paramount Theater
Austin, TX
Businessman Ernest Nalle built this downtown Austin theater in 1915 as the Majestic, designed by a Chicago architectural firm and raised under a local architect's hand. Renamed the Paramount and lavishly remodeled in the 1930s, it hosted traveling vaudeville, stage drama, musical productions, and motion pictures across generations. It remains one of Austin's enduring landmarks of live and screen entertainment.
Openheimer-Montgomery Building
Austin, TX
This commercial building went up in 1894 for Louis Openheimer, a Texas military, business, and civic figure, and was designed and built by John McDonald, who served as Austin's mayor from 1889 to 1895. In 1899 it was sold into the estate of 12-year-old Fannie Montgomery. Its Queen Anne styling—projecting second-story bay windows carried on jigsawn Victorian brackets—marks it as a fine example of late-19th-century commercial architecture.