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 T. Porter literature, especially the "tall tale" form of humor. Porter encouraged Southwestern authors to write and publish their short stories in the "Spirit", and was involved in getting their works published in book form. He was the editor for two of these collections: "The Big Bear of Arkansas", published in 1846, and "A Quarter Race in Kentucky and Other Sketches", published in 1847. Porter was instrumental in encouraging the career of Johnson Hooper. Another writer who contributed to the "Spirit" was Henry William Herbert, who wrote under the pen name "Frank Forester". The Panic of 1837 hurt the "Spirit's" circulation, but