Ruggles - Smith House

Constructed: 1895

Address: 1600 Rio Grande St

This two-story white Victorian home, built around 1896, features an octagonal tower on the north corner and steeply pitched gables on the southwest and southeast corners, with a one-story wraparound porch. It was constructed by attorney Gardner Ruggles, son of General Daniel Ruggles, after his wife Dixie purchased the property in 1895. After Gardner’s death, Dixie sold the home in 1913, and it was briefly used as an office before being purchased in 1917 by Walter Raleigh Smith, who restored it as a residence. Smith, a former state land office employee and Austin’s first rail passenger agent, retired from the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1932. He and his wife Minnie raised three children there, including their son Walter Jr., who lived in the home as a student and young attorney.