Norwood Tower, Austin

The Norwood Tower in Austin is an example of early 20th-century architecture. This 16-story building, constructed with a steel frame and covered in precast concrete panels, was the tallest commercial building in Austin until 1971, second only to the Texas State Capitol and the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. Its Gothic Revival style, popular in Texas during the 1920s, features vertical lines, intricate Gothic details, flamboyant arches, and gargoyles. Inside, the lobby is decorated with golden leaf motifs.

In the 1920s, Ollie Osborn Norwood, a local financier, envisioned this tower as a modern office space for Austin's expanding professional community. It was innovative for its time, offering central air conditioning in every office, a first for Austin, and an integrated parking garage. The garage was completed in 1928, followed by the demolition of a pre-existing house on the site, and the office tower was finished in 1929. The building housed various professionals, including medical, legal, and financial offices, as well as retailers and government agencies. In 1934, the Capital National Bank of Austin began occupying the ground floor and eventually bought the building in 1944, renaming it the "Capital National Bank Building."

During the Segregation Era, before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the office of the building's African-American maintenance engineer, Clarence Odie Williams, housed the only downtown public restroom accessible to African Americans.

The bank moved out in 1981, and the building was renamed "Norwood Tower." It underwent significant renovations between 1982 and 1983. In 2006, it was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The tower is now owned by the family of former President Lyndon Johnson.

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Sight Name: Norwood Tower
Sight Location: Austin, USA (See walking tours in Austin)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

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