Houston City Hall (Houston, Texas) | Art Deco (architecture), 1939_construction

 city hall, Art Deco (architecture), 1939_construction

Headquarters building of the government of the city of Houston, Texas.

In October, 1937 the City Commissioners awarded the architectural contract for a new City Hall to Joseph Finger, an Austrian-born Texan architect responsible for a number of Houston-area landmarks. Construction began on March 7, 1938 and was completed in July 1939.

The simply-designed structure features many construction details that have helped to make this building an architectural classic. The building is faced with Texas Cordova limestone, and the doors to the building are made of a specially-cast aluminum. The lobby is walled with lightly veined marble. The gateways to the Tax Department are inlaid with bronze, nickel and silver. The elevator lobbies are treated with marble base, walls and wainscoting.

Above the lobby entrance is a stone sculpture depicting two men taming a wild horse, which is meant to symbolize a community coming together to form a government to tame the world around them.

The design on the lobby floor depicts the protective role of government. In the grillwork above the main entrances are medallions of "great lawgivers" from ancient times to the founding of America, including Thomas Jefferson, Charlemagne, Julius Caesar and Moses. An old city seal adorns the interior doorknobs.

www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/cityhallhistory.html