O. Henry Museum

Address 409 E 5th St

The O. Henry Museum occupies the small Victorian cottage where the short story writer William Sydney Porter — known universally as O. Henry — lived with his wife and daughter from 1893 to 1895. The house has been preserved as a period interior with furniture and objects from the 1890s, and the museum tells the story of Porter's Austin years: his work at the General Land Office, his founding of a satirical newspaper, and his eventual departure under difficult circumstances.

O. Henry's stories, including "The Gift of the Magi" and hundreds of others, are defined by their twist endings — a technique he developed in prison, writing to support his daughter. The museum hosts an annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championship each May, which draws competitive punsters from across the country for what is, by general agreement, an extremely Austin event.

things to do museum historic house
A story
William Sydney Porter (pen name O. Henry) lived in Austin in the 1880s and 90s and worked as a bank teller — a job that ended badly when he was convicted of embezzlement in 1898 and sentenced to five years in federal prison. It was in prison that he began writing the short stories that would make him famous. His Austin house museum never mentions the embezzlement; the annual pun competition does not require knowledge of his legal history.