The William Sydney Porter House or O. Henry House is a historic structure in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. William Sydney Porter, better known as the author O. Henry, lived there between 1893 and 1895. The Porter house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on June 18, 1973. The house is known today as the O. Henry Museum. The collection is curated by Melissa Parr, Site Coordinator.

History

The cottage is a simplified version of the

Eastlake Style The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in t ...

of architecture. The house was built in 1886 and rented between 1893 and 1895 by William Sidney Porter, better known as the author O. Henry. Porter lived in the house with his wife, Athol, and daughter, Margaret, before they moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, where Porter began writing full-time for the ''

Houston Post The ''Houston Post'' was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the ''Houston Chronicle''. History Gail Borden Johnson founded the ''Houston Po ...

''. Though primarily associated with his home state of North Carolina, O. Henry set 42 of his stories in Texas. The residence remained a rental property until 1930 when it was to be demolished to construct a warehouse. In January 1934, a committee representing the Colonial Dames, the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, the Daughters of 1812, the

Daughters of the Republic of Texas The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) is a lineal association dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the founding families and soldiers of the Republic of Texas. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas is best known for its former role as ...

, and the

Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

submitted a proposal to the Austin City Council, that if the city would accept the house as a donation from the Austin

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

and relocate the house, the women's organizations would work to restore the house and open it as a "shrine." The City of Austin had the house moved from its original location at 307 East 4th Street to its current location around the block at Brush Square, 409 East 5th Street. The house was restored and opened as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in 1934. The many period pieces on display include some of the Porter's furniture and personal belongings. The structure underwent further restoration in 1994–95 with a renewed roof and the replacement of four brick

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s lost in 1934. It is the site of the annual

O. Henry Pun-Off The O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships is a yearly spoken word competition that takes place every May at the O. Henry Museum in Austin, Texas. Started in 1978, the Pun-Off gathers fans of wordplay to celebrate the pun, which English poet and li ...

, a spoken pun competition. The event is traditionally held the first weekend in May.Pohlen, Jerome. ''Oddball Texas: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places''. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, 2006: 191.

References

External links

O. Henry MuseumMuseum Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, William Sidney City of Austin Historic Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Museums in Austin, Texas Historic house museums in Texas Biographical museums in Texas Literary museums in the United States Houses in Austin, Texas Houses completed in 1886 O. Henry Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Relocated buildings and structures in Texas