Austin became the capital of Texas on January 19, 1840, and this hill was laid out as Capitol Square. A modest statehouse built here in the 1850s soon developed structural flaws, and after it burned on November 9, 1881, a new capitol went forward under financing set aside by the Constitutional Convention of 1876 through about 3,000,000 acres of public land. Architect E.E. Myers of Detroit won a national competition for the design, and contractor Mattheas Schnell of Rock Island, Illinois, carried out the work. Basement excavation began early in 1882, and railroads built especially for the project hauled limestone from the Oatmanville quarries in Travis County along with stone donated by the owners of Granite Mountain in Burnet County. The 900 laborers included 86 granite cutters brought from Scotland. Construction was funded by Chicago bankers Charles B. and John V. Farwell, who were repaid in land in ten Panhandle counties where they founded the XIT ranch. At dedication ceremonies on May 18, 1888, state senator Temple Houston, son of Sam Houston, accepted the capitol on behalf of the people of Texas and called it "a structure that shall stand as a sentinel of eternity."