The architectural history of Texas spans more than 300 years of European settlement and 10,000 years of habitation by native peoples. The incredibly diverse natural landscape and equally varied built environment has produced an architectural heritage of national and international stature. This book, the first of two volumes devoted to the Lone Star State, covers the central, southern, and Gulf Coast regions (the earliest areas of Spanish and Anglo settlement and the majority of the counties that won independence from Mexico in 1836) and includes four major cities--Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio. The authors consider the contributions made by various cultures--Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Anglo, African American, German, Czech, Polish, and Italian--to the state's rich architectural heritage. More than 1,000 building entries canvass the most important and representative examples of Spanish missions, log cabins, German stone houses, Victorian courthouses, Moderne stores, contemporary ranch houses, modern skyscrapers, postmodern retail strips, and incursions by internationally renowned architects. With the burgeoning interest in heritage tourism, this in-depth guide--enlivened by 351 illustrations and 50 maps--will satisfy the curiosity of both local and out-of-state visitors, bringing new energy to the state's promising preservation movement.