Lampasas County Courthouse (Lampasas)
Architect: Wesley Clark (“W.C.”) Dodson
Year Built: 1883
The Lampasas County Courthouse is located in the City of Lampasas. It is absolutely beautiful, and is one of many of Dodson’s designs. Works by Dodson or his partnership include (with attribution):
- Coryell County Courthouse, Public Sq. Gatesville, TX
- Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square, Public Sq., Denton, TX
- Fannin County Courthouse (Texas)
- First Presbyterian Church, 406 Avenue A Palestine, TX (Dodson & Dudley)
- Hill County Courthouse, Courthouse Sq. Hillsboro, TX (Dodson,W.C.)
- Hill County Jail, N. Waco St. Hillsboro, TX (Dodson,W.C.)
- One or more works in Hood County Courthouse Historic District, Courthouse Sq., Granbury, TX (DODSON,W.C.)
- McLennan County, Texas, third Courthouse, Waco, TX, Second Empire, completed in 1857 and since demolished.
- Parker County Courthouse, Courthouse Sq. Weatherford, TX (Dodson,W.C.)
Lampasas County was created by the Texas Legislature on February 1, 1856, in response to a petition signed by 135 Lampasas County citizens. The County is named after the Lampasas River, and was formed from parts of Travis, Bell, and Coryell counties. The new county was organized on March 10, 1856.
Two years later the northeastern corner of Lampasas County became part of Hamilton County. In 1873 an act of the legislature extended the southern boundary of Lampasas County thirty miles into Burnet County, but the next year the boundary was returned to its previous position. In 1887 the new Mills County received northern and northwestern sections of Lampasas County. Subsequently, the county boundaries remained unchanged. Because the young county had no resources to build a courthouse, county records were kept in a small frame building for a number of years, and there were frequent turnovers in the county offices due to the small salaries offered.
Numerous historical plaques on the courthouse grounds reveal a rough and tumble history, complete with assaults of lawmen and horseback criminal gangs.