Carpet From England Purchased For Texas Senate Chamber
New historically accurate carpet for the Texas Senate comes from England as part of a more than $500,000 update to the chamber in Austin.
Officials with the State Preservation Board, which manages and maintains the 126-year-old statehouse, say the custom green carpet replaces what was under foot since 1993.
Spokesman Chris Currens says there was no correct narrow-width manufacturing equipment in the U.S. to reproduce the custom carpet.
The Houston Chronicle reported Monday that workers hand-sewed the seams together in an eight-week carpet-laying process.
State historical records show the Senate's first carpet probably arrived in 1889. It wore out and was replaced a dozen years later, then again in 1917 with a heavy cut-pile woven carpet that carries the same pattern as today's version.
Texas lawmakers convene in January.
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