Bosque County Courthouse (Meridian)

Year Built:  1886.

Architect:  J.J. Kane.

The Bosque County Courthouse is located in the City of Meridian, Texas. See the very informative narrative from its  National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form HERE.

The 1886 Bosque County Courthouse, designed by Fort Worth architect J.J. Kane, is one of the oldest Texas courthouse structures in continuous use. The three-story limestone building is designed in high Victorian Gothic Revival style using an Italianate off-center clock tower and corner turret roofs.

In 1934, as part of a Works Progress Administration project, the design was significantly altered with the removal of the clock tower and entire roof structure, steel windows replacing wood, and a small one-story addition to the west façade. A flat concrete roof and cast stone parapet incorporating a single clock face completed the changes.

By the 1970s, a lowered ceiling reduced the two-story district courtroom to half its original height and dropped the height in most other spaces to accommodate mechanical and electrical installations.

Reconstruction of the original clock tower and the four corner roof turrets was the most dramatic change accomplished during the 2005-07 restoration. These large elements were fabricated in Paris, Texas, trucked to Meridian, and craned into position with hundreds of people watching.

Completing the restoration, historic reproduction wood windows and entry doors were installed; the district courtroom, halls, and public spaces were reopened to their full height; the original concrete floors rehabilitated, and wood wainscot paneling reconstructed.