For Sale: Fence That Guarded Governor's Mansion For 50 Years

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- What to get the person who has everything? How about the iron fence that surrounded the Texas governor’s mansion for the better part of 50 years before it had to be removed after a 2008 fire at the official residence?

Soon, that relic of the past will be up for grabs to the highest bidder.

The folks at Austin Auction Gallery are scheduled to sell the fence that guarded the governor’s official residence in downtown Austin for a half a century.

If that fence could talk, it would have interesting stories to tell in the history of Texas--from the tenures of Democrats Preston Smith and Dolph Briscoe in the 1960s to the term of the longest-serving executive head of state, Rick Perry, who served for 12 years.

In between those governors, the fence helped guard the first woman governor in Texas since Ma Ferguson,in 1933, the indomitable Ann Richards, elected in 1999. A future president, George W. Bush, also passed through the gates before becoming the leader of the free world in 2000.

“Anybody with a deep-seated love for the state of Texas,” Chris Featherstone told Time Warner News as to the profile of the likely winning bidder for the unique item.

The item could serve a role beyond the symbolic into the utilitarian, he added: “You could use them on a ranch; you could use them in your house in downtown Austin, decoration. We’ve talked to people who have museums.”