<P> Since 2011 the GLO has managed The Alamo in San Antonio . The management of the Alamo was transferred to the General Land Office after allegations of mismanagement were directed at the prior manager, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas . </P> <P> The Congress of the Republic of Texas established the General Land Office on 22 December 1836 (making the GLO the oldest existing Texas public agency). The agency's constitutional purpose was to "superintend, execute, and perform all acts touching or respecting the public lands of Texas ." Since its establishment the agency has been located in Austin, although a relocation to Houston was briefly attempted during the Texas Archive War . One former home of the GLO, the Old Land Office Building, is a registered historic place and now serves as the Texas State Capitol Visitor's Center . </P> <P> When Texas was annexed into the United States in 1845, it kept control of all of its public lands from its time as a sovereign state . As a result, Texas is the only US state to control all of its own public lands; all federal lands in Texas were acquired by purchase (e.g. military bases) or donation (e.g. national parks). </P> <P> Texas's public lands were significantly enlarged by the US Submerged Lands Act of 1953 and the resolution of the ensuing Tidelands Controversy . Because Texas's historical territorial waters originated with the Republic, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1960 that Texas was in the unique position of owning territory out to three leagues (10.35 miles) from its coastline (significantly more than the three miles controlled by other coastal states). All of these lands (and the oil and gas deposits beneath them) are managed by the General Land Office . </P>

General land office of the state of texas