Original plans called for construction with Texas limestone. But following laying of the cornerstone on March 2, 1885, doubt arose concerning the uniform quality of limestone from then-available quarries. In a fortunate result, owners of Granite Mountain at Marble Falls in Burnet County offered building stone, free of charge, to the state. The structure was completed with the superb pink granite that makes the capitol so distinctive.
A four-story, underground extension is connected to the capitol and to four adjacent state buildings by pedestrian tunnels. It was dedicated on May 16, 1888, and occupied in September of that year. Covering 2.25 acres of ground with some 8.5 acres of floor space, the building was said to be the seventh largest in the world at the time of its construction. A four-story, 650,000-square-foot underground extension was added in 1993. Major renovation of the capitol was completed in 1995. It is the third tallest state capitol in the U.S., measuring 302.64 feet from the oval walk at the south entrance to the tip of the star in the Goddess of Liberty's hand at the top of the dome.
