1845
January 9, 1840
The Republic of Texas becomes a state of the United States of America.
Governor: None
Drawing of Austin 1844
1932/5-21, Courtesy of Texas State Library and Archives Commission
1846-47
January 1, 1846
- War between the United States and Mexico.
- Elias Howe patents the sewing machine.
- Iowa becomes a state.
Governor: James Pinckney Henderson
Image: Shutterstock.com
1847-49
March 7, 1847
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, are published.
- Marx and Engels issue the Communist Manifesto.
Governor: George T. Wood
Image: Andy Lidstone / Shutterstock.com
1849-53
March 7, 1849
- Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th US President in 1849, dies in 1850 and is succeeded by Millard Fillmore.
- The Compromise of 1850 resolves some slavery issues and Texas border disputes.
- California becomes a state in 1850.
- The Taiping Rebellion takes place in China.
Governor: Peter Hansborough Bell
Historic Map of California
Image: Shutterstock.com
1853-57
March 7, 1853
- Franklin Pierce becomes the 14th US President.
- Births of Vincent van Gogh and Sigmund Freud.
- Introduction of the Bessemer process in steel production.
- Guiseppe Verdi debuts his operas Il Trovatore and La Traviata.
Governor: Elisha Marshall Pease
Vincent Van Gogh
Image: Everett – Art / Shutterstock.com
1854
March 7, 1854
Construction begins on the Texas Governor’s Mansion.
Master Builder Abner Cook, circa 1870
Image Courtesy: PICB01890, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
1856
March 7, 1856
The Governor’s Mansion completed in June, 1856.
Governor’s Levee
1857-59
March 7, 1857
- James Buchanan becomes the 15th US President.
- Laying of the transatlantic cable begins.
- Minnesota becomes a state in 1858.
Governor: Hardin R. Runnels
President James Buchanan
Image: Shutterstock.com
1859-61
March 7, 1859
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is published.
- The first oil well is drilled in Pennsylvania.
- Abraham Lincoln elected as 16th president.
- U. S. population is approximately 32 million.
- Pasteur develops the germ theory of fermentation.
Governor: Sam Houston
H.B. Hillyer – One of the earliest photos of the Mansion in 1860s
1932/5-50, Courtesy of Texas State Library and Archives Commission
1861-63
March 7, 1861
- Texas secedes from US; Sam Houston forced from the office of governor.
- Civil War begins when Confederates take Ft. Sumpter on April 12, 1861.
- Publication of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables.
- West Virginia becomes a US state in 1863.
Governor: Francis R. Lubbock
Image: Shutterstock.com
1863-65
March 7, 1863
- Mexico City is captured by the French who install Maximilian as emperor.
- Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, gives the Gettysburg Address, 1863.
- Lee surrenders at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
- President Lincoln assassinated on April 14, 1865; succeeded by Andrew Johnson.
Governor: Pendleton Murrah
President Lincoln
Image: Shutterstock.com
1865-66
March 7, 1865
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
- Premier of Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde.
- Invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel.
Governor: Andrew J. Hamilton (provisional governor)
Alice in Wonderland, vintage engraving
Image: Shutterstock.com
1866-67
March 7, 1866- Nebraska becomes a US state.
- Diamond field discovered in South Africa.
Governor: James W. Throckmorton
1867-69
March 7, 1867
- Texas Governor’s Mansion occupied by military commander Gen. J. J. Reynolds.
- Gen. Sheridan restores military rule in Texas.
- Ulysses S. Grant becomes the 18th president of the US
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is published.
Governor: Elisha Marshall Pease
President Ulysses S. Grant
Image: Shutterstock.com
1870-74
March 7, 1870- Standard Oil Company is founded by John D. Rockefeller.
- Salt Creek Massacre led by Kiowa chief Satanta, Young County, Texas.
- Publication of Anna Karenina, written by Tolstoi.
Governor: Edmund J. Davis
1874-76
March 7, 1874- First modern toilet facility installed in the Governor’s Mansion.
- First gas lights installed in the Mansion.
- In Paris, France, first exhibition of Impressionist paintings takes place.
- First zoo in America started in Philadelphia.
Governor: Richard Coke
1876-79
March 7, 1876
- Texas drafts a new state constitution; Reconstruction ends.
- First performance of the opera Carmen, composed by Bizet.
- Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
- Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19th US President.
- Birth of Albert Einstein.
Governor: Richard B. Hubbard
Image: Shutterstock.com
1879-83
March 7, 1879
- Running water first installed in the Governor’s Mansion.
- Rodin sculpts The Thinker
- James A. Garfield becomes 20th President.
- Chester A. Arthur sworn in as President after the assassination of Garfield.
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is published.
Governor: Oran M. Roberts
The Thinker, Rodin
Image: Shutterstock.com
1883-87
March 7, 1883
- Buffalo Bill Cody organizes his Wild West Show.
- The Texas Capitol building burns down.
- Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn is published.
- Dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
Governor: John Ireland
Image Courtesy: neftali / Shutterstock.com
1887-91
March 7, 1887
- Dedication of the newly completed Texas Capitol.
- Queen Victoria celebrates her 50th year as queen of England.
- “Kodak” box camera design completed by George Eastman.
- Inauguration of Benjamin Harrison as the 23rd President.
- Hollerith creates the first punch card system.
- Wyoming and Idaho become US states.
Governor: Lawrence Sullivan Ross
Goddess of Liberty, February 1888
1965/90-1, Courtesy of Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Sources:
- Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. New York: Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 1991. Jean Daniel, Price Daniel and Dorothy Blodgett. The Texas Governor’s Mansion.
- Austin: Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, 1984.
- The Governor’s Mansion of Texas: A Tour of Texas’s Most Historic Home. Austin: Friends of the Governor’s Mansion, 1997.