construction of the italian renaissance revival'style capitol was funded by an article of the state constitution, adopted on february 15, 1876, which authorized the sale of public lands for the purpose. in one of the largest barter transactions of recorded history, the builders of the capitol (john v. farwell and charles b. farwell), known as the capitol syndicate, were paid with more than three-million acres (12,000 km²) of public land in the "panhandle" region of texas; this tract later became the largest cattle ranch in the world, the xit ranch. the value of the land, combined with expenses, added to a total cost of $3.7 million for the original building. it was constructed largely by convicts or migrant workers, as many as a thousand at a time.[6] the building has been renovated several times, with central air conditioning installed in 1955 and the most recent refurbishments completed in 1997.
