Grimes County Courthouse (Anderson)

The first Grimes County Courthouse was constructed from cedar logs. Fire destroyed this structure in 1838, and in 1850, a ferocious wind destroyed the second Courthouse. W.W. Arrington designed the third Courthouse and built it from stone in February, 1859. The third Courthouse burned on May 15, 1890, and the fire of January 20, 1893 destroyed the fourth Courthouse. This (5th) Courthouse was built in 1894.

The Courthouse bricks have 3 distinct colors: (1) the original hand molded red brick of the surviving 1891 east wall vaults; (2) the 1894 pinkish red brick on the south, west, and part of the north walls, and (3) a rustic brown colored brick on a section of the north wall. The third color of brick has an interesting story. The bricklayer had run out of bricks and was waiting impatiently for a wagonload of bricks to be delivered. While waiting for the bricks to arrive, he went around town gathering a few bricks to keep his job moving along. When the wagon arrived, he continued bricking with the original bricks.