William Sidney Porter House William Sidney Porter House The William Sidney Porter House or O. Henry House is a historic structure in Downtown Austin, Texas. William Sidney Porter, better known as the author O. Henry, lived there between 1893 and 1895. The Porter house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 1973. The house is known today as the O. Henry Museum. The cottage is a simplified version of the Eastlake Style of architecture. The house was built in 1886 and rented between 1893 and 1895 by William Sidney Porter, better known as the author O. Henry. Porter lived
William Porter (Attorney General) however, was quite typical for Porter's personality. He also turned down a knighthood and a chief justiceship among other offers. He retired from politics in 1873 and returned to Ireland, leaving a prosperous, democratic and stable Cape Colony with a rapidly growing economy. He settled in Belfast for his final years and died in 1880. The tiny town of Porterville, Western Cape, (est.1863) was named after him. William Porter (Attorney General) William Porter (1805–1880) was attorney-general of the Cape Colony and a drafter of its first constitution in 1854. William Porter was born in Ireland (Derry) on 15 September 1805