Year Built: 1913
Architect: Lang and Witchell with Charles E. Barglebaugh
The Johnson County Courthouse is located in Cleburne, Texas.
Architect Wesley Clarke Dodson of Waco, Texas designed this Second Empire style courthouse for Johnson County. It suffered the fate of several of his courthouses – fire destroyed the building. According to the National Register narrative, the fire occurred on April 15, 1912 (coincidentally the day the Titanic sank).
The overall design is very similar to Dodson’s courthouses in Hill County, Anderson County (destroyed), Hood County and Parker County.
“The Johnson County Courthouse is one of the most noteworthy early 20th-century courthouses in Texas. While the basic form and massing reflects relatively conventional Beaux Arts traditions, much of the interior and exterior detailing shows strong Sullivanesque influence. The Courthouse with its soaring tower remains the visual focal point of the city of Cleburne, and the structure has had few alterations over the last 75 years, preserving its integrity to an unusual degree.
“[Following the destruction by fire of the 1883 courthouse] according to a contemporaneous newspaper account, the Johnson County Commissioners Court “immediately called for plans to be drawn for a new building. . . the court in a body visited several towns and cities and inspected their new and modern court houses so as to determine what was best for Johnson County.” Likely the Commissioners visited the Cooke County Courthouse (1911) to the north in Gainesville and possibly the Harris County Courthouse (1907-10; N.R. 1981) in Houston, for they selected their designers, the celebrated Dallas firm of Lang and Witchell, for the new Johnson County Courthouse.
“While most Texas architectural firms in 1912 practiced in cautious Beaux Arts or even residual Late Victorian modes, Lang and Witchell and a limited number of other architects demonstrated an appreciation of the Prairie School. North Texas in particular had very strong cultural, economic and trans-portation links with the Midwest.
“That the Johnson County Commissioners would select a particularly progressive architectural firm is not surprising. The county seat, Cleburne, was the location of the machine shops and mechanical headquarters for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, and between 1910 and 1920 the population of the city increased by 20% to 12,820 (a figure it would not reach again until the 1950 census).
“The resulting Lang & Witchell design for the Johnson County Courthouse is remarkable. While at first glance it appears to be a twin of the firm’s Cooke County Courthouse, the proportions and detailing of the Johnson County Courthouse are much finer. The strong Beaux Arts influence remains, but re-markable Sullivanesque pendants and stylized capitals are seen on the exterior of the Cleburne structure.” From the National Register narrative
The courthouse was closed from 2005 through 2008 for an exterior and interior restoration.
“ARCHITEXAS provided a restoration Master Plan and full architectural services through construction administration of the historic 1912 courthouse. The scope of work for construction included restoration of corridors, stairwells, and historic courtrooms, rehabilitation of county offices and sensitive integration of handicap accessibility, contemporary systems, and modern fire protection throughout.” ArchiTexas website
