Littlefield Building

The Scarbrough Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Austin, Texas, at the corner of Congress Avenue and Sixth Street. The city's first steel-frame skyscraper, it was built beginning in 1908 to house the headquarters of the department store of the same name. Originally initiated by Emerson Monroe Scarbrough Sr., the building served the company, which had been founded in Rockdale in 1874 and over time became a pioneer in retail by being one of the first stores to put price tags on all of its merchandise. A major renovation in 1931 gave the structure its distinctive Art Deco facade and made it the first store west of the Mississippi with air conditioning. After the department store closed in 1982, the building housed a variety of retailers and restaurants. Since 2023, the landmarked building has served as the campus of the private University of Austin.