Travis County Historical Commission Blog: The Old Governor Albert C. Horton (1798

Saturday, March 7, 2026

The Old Governor Albert C. Horton (1798 - 1860) House

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas) · Sat, Mar 2, 1996

The old Governor Albert C. Horton (1798 - 1860) house was located at 6706 Bluff Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78744 (30.187683, -97.768383). A Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1972, the house suffered a fire in 1996 and the ruins were razed in 2025 due to safety concerns. Hornton owned the property 1841 - 1852. A later owner was Judge Thomas H. Duval (1813 - 1880) then restored and enlarged by Mr. and Mrs. W.O Karcher in the 1960s.

A veteran of the Texas War for Independence, upon the establishment of the Republic of Texas in 1836, Horton was elected to congress. He was chairman of the commission appointed by president M.B. Lamar which selected Waterloo, surveyed 1838, then later renamed Austin, as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1839.

On March 7, 1842, Horton was recruited to serve as captain under Colonel Owen, to defend against Rafael Vásquez, and his force of 500–700 Mexican soldiers, who had seized San Antonio which in turn led to the temporary partial evacuation of Austin until Texas entered the Union in 1845.

Hornton was the first man elected Lieutenant Governor after Texas joined the Union, and lived here while serving as Chief of State May 19-Nov. 13, 1846, when Gov. J. Pinckney Henderson was on duty with the U.S. Army in the Mexican War.

The house was located less than mile east of the old road from Austin to San Antonio, today's South Congress Ave, and part of El Camino Real de los Tejas Nat'l Historic Trail.