Lundberg Bakery (Austin, Texas)
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Lundberg Bakery | |
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The Old Bakery and Emporium | |
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| Location |
1006 Congress Avenue Austin, Texas, USA |
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| Coordinates | 30°16′19.92″N 97°44′29.4″W / 30.2722000°N 97.741500°WCoordinates: 30°16′19.92″N 97°44′29.4″W / 30.2722000°N 97.741500°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1876 |
| Architect | John Didelot |
| Architectural style | Early Commercial |
| NRHP Reference # | 69000214[1] |
| Website | ci.austin.tx.us/parks/bakery1.htm |
| Added to NRHP | December 17, 1969 |
The Lundberg Bakery, also known as the Old Bakery and Emporium, is a historic bakery building currently serving as a gift shop in downtown Austin, Texas. The building was completed in 1876 and is located at 1006 Congress Avenue, half a block south of the Capitol grounds. At the time the bakery began operations, bread was not sold wrapped or packaged. People would wait in line with cloth lined baskets to place the bread in after buying it. Short story writer William Sydney Porter frequented the bakery as he passed it to and from work while employed at the General Land Office Building.
The building served as a bakery until its owner, Swedish immigrant Charles Lundberg, died in 1895. The building changed hands frequently until being bought and refurbished by the Austin Heritage Society in 1962. It was threatened with demolition in 1970, when a new building was planned for the Texas Department of Transportation, but saved when excavations next door uncovered the foundations of the previous state capitol building (a temporary structure built in 1882). Following the discovery, the foundations were converted to a historical plaza, and the bakery was saved.
The building is constructed of limestone with a brick facade, and features a large cast-iron eagle at the peak of the gabled roof overlooking Congress Avenue. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1969.[1]
The City of Austin now owns the building. The Old Bakery and Emporium operates as a consignment shop, visitor information center, art gallery exhibiting local artists age 50 and over, and also houses a museum, the Lundberg-Maerki Historical Collection.
References
- 1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lundberg Bakery (Austin, Texas). |
- Old Bakery and Emporium - City of Austin
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