Texas Courthouses
There are 254 Texas counties, and many counties have more than one courthouse. Like other enthusiasts, I – with wife and dogs in tow – have set out to visit all of the historic Texas courthouses (yes, that’s a thing), and have dedicated this page to posting pictures and videos from our visits.
I have handled cases in many of these courthouses, but cannot choose a favorite. I love so many of them, but am partial to the designs of architects Alfred Giles and James Riely Gordon, both of whom were very active in and around San Antonio in the 1800s. I am also a fan of W.C. Dodson‘s designs, though his style varied significantly throughout his career.
I hope you enjoy experiencing the many architectural styles of these fantastic buildings. I will continue to add pictures to this page as we get the chance to experience “new” courthouses.
NOTES:
– All photos and videos on this page taken by Trey Wilson.
– This page is best viewed on on a desktop. The alignment and labels may be off when viewed from a mobile device.
– Click on the individual photos to enlarge. Some were taken with Canon cameras, and others with iPhones, so quality may vary.
– I make my living doing something other than taking pictures (practicing real estate law), so feel free to share or republish my photos if you are so inclined. I would appreciate photo attribution to @treywilsonattorneytx.
– I post some of the Courthouse photos I take on Instagram at @TreyWilsonAttorneyTx. Look for #texascourthouse and #countycourthouse to see additional pictures taken by me and other Texas courthouse enthusiasts. Sometimes I post short, cheesy courthouse videos to TikTok under my handle @treywilsonattorneytx.
– Learn about the Texas Historical Commission’s Courthouse Stewardship and Historic Courthouse Preservation Programs.
– A sampling of pictures from my visits to other courthouses, including the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., will also be posted on this page. I have labeled the non-Texas, replaced and abandoned courthouses as “BONUS.”
– If you are interested in historical Texas Courthouses, here are some great websites:
- 254 Texas Courthouses
- TexasCourthouses.com
- Texas Courthouse Trail
- Texas Escapes
- Texas Association of Counties
- Texas Historic Commission Restored Courthouses
- Architexas Historic Texas Courthouses Projects page
The Texas State Historical Association‘s Handbook of Texas is my GO-TO resource for research into the counties I visit.
Cherokee County Courthouse (Rusk)
Architect: Cornell G. Curtis. Year Built: 1941. The Cherokee County Courthouse is located in the East Texas town of Rusk.The Courthouse was completed as part of a Federal Works Agency construction project administered by the Works Project Administration (a federal New...
Marion County Courthouse (Jefferson)
Architect: Elmer George Withers. Year Built: 1913. The Marion County Courthouse is located in the quaint East Texas town of Jefferson. It is almost identical to the Roberts County Courthouse, as both were designed by Architect Elmer G. Withers. Withers also designed...
Menard County Courthouse (Menard)
Architect: Elmer G. Withers. Year Built: 1932. The Menard County Courthouse is located in Menard, Texas. It is constructed in the Art Deco style and serves as the prototype for Withers-designed courthouses in Ector County and Upshur County. The Courthouse was...
Freestone County Courthouse (Fairfield)
Architect: W R Kaufman. Year Built: 1919. The Freestone County Courthouse is located in Fairfield, Texas. The 1919 courthouse is the Fourth structure to serve the County. Freestone County was created in 1850 from part of Limestone County and organized in 1851....
Cass County Courthouse (Linden)
Architect: Charles Ames and Stewart Moore. Year Built: 1859. The Cass County Courthouse is located in the tiny northeast Texas town of Linden. The Courthouse was designed by the then-County Judge, Charles Ames. It has remained in operation since 1861, making it the...
Zapata County Courthouse (Zapata)
Architect: Morgan Spear Associates, Inc. Year Built: 2005. The Zapata County Courthouse is located in the border town of Zapata, Texas. The town is not an incorporated city, but a census-designated place. The current courthouse replaced a 1953 courthouse. The 1901...
Bastrop County Courthouse (Bastrop)
Architect: Jasper N. Preston and F.E. Ruffini. Year Built: 1883. The Bastrop County Courthouse is located in the City of Bastrop, Texas. The Courthouse was constructed in the Renaissance Revival style. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on...
Lee County Courthouse (Giddings)
Architect: J. Riely Gordon. Date Built: 1898. The Lee County Courthouse is located in Giddings, Texas. It is designed in the "Richardsonian Romanesque" style. I find it remarkably similar to Gordon's courthouse in Comal County. From the Courthouse marker: Designed...
Anderson County Courthouse (Palestine)
Architect: Page Brothers: CH Page and Louis Charles Page. Year Built:1914. The Anderson County Courthouse is located in Palestine, Texas. The current Courthouse is the fourth structure to serve as the seat of Anderson County government. The courthouse uses a...
Live Oak County Courthouse (George West)
Architect: Alfred Giles. Year Built: 1919. The Live Oak County Courthouse is located in George West, Texas. Live Oak County was created by the Texas Legislature on Feb. 2, 1856, and organized August 4 with Oakville as county seat. The County was formed from San...
BONUS: Old Kendall County Courthouse (Boerne)
Architect: Philip Zoeller (original); Charles Buckel (expansion); Alfred Giles (addition & facade). Year Built: 1870; 1886 second floor expansion; 1909 addition and facade. The Kendall County Courthouse is located in Boerne, Texas. This was once a sleepy German...
BONUS: Old Nueces County Courthouse (Corpus Christi)
Architect: Harvey L. Page. Year Built: 1914. The "old" 1914 Nueces County Courthouse is located in Corpus Christi, Texas. It faces the Corpus Christi Bay, which is visible from the courthouse. Designed in the Neo-Classical Style, it was added to the National Register...
Hays County Courthouse (San Marcos)
Architect: C.H. Page & Bro. Year Built: 1909. The Hays County Courthouse is located in San Marcos, Texas. From the Hays County Historical Commission: Hays County was organized from the southwestern portion of Travis County in 1848 and named for Captain John Coffee...
Williamson County Courthouse (Georgetown)
Architect: Charles H. Page & Bro. (Louis Page). Year Built: 1910. The Williamson County Courthouse is located in Georgetown, Texas. It is the Fifth courthouse to serve the county. It is designed in the Classical Revival architectural style and features ionic...
Travis County Courthouse (Austin)
Architect: Page Brothers, Architects (also known as C. H. Page & Bro.). Year Built: 1930. The Travis County Courthouse is located in downtown Austin, just west of the Texas Capitol. From Travis County Archives: In 1930 a site for the new Courthouse was selected...
Coryell County Courthouse (Gatesville)
Architect: W.C. Dodson. Year Built: 1897. Constructed in 1897, the Coryell County Courthouse is located in Gatesville. It was designed by Wesley Clark Dodson in the Beaux Arts style with Romanesque details, but is also referred to as "Second Empire Victorian" and...
Jackson County Courthouse (Edna)
Architect: F. Perry Johnston. Year Built: 1954. The Jackson County Courthouse is located in Edna, Texas. The courthouse is designed in the modern architectural style. It sits on an expansive lot that is surrounded by mature oak trees. There are many monuments on the...
Burnet County Courthouse (Burnet)
Architect: Lewis Milton Wirtz Year Built: 1937. The Burnet County Courthouse is located in the city of Burnet, Texas. It is the third courthouse to serve the County, with prior courthouses constructed in 1854 and 1875. The second courthouse was built of limestone and...
Calhoun County Courthouse (Port Lavaca)
Architect: George Rustay and Foy Martin Year Built: 1959. The current Calhoun County Courthouse is located in Port Lavaca. It is a modern design made of concrete and aluminum, It is the 5th courthouse for Calhoun County. It was remodeled in 2005 and 2006. On April...
BONUS: Old Hidalgo County Courthouse (Hidalgo)
Year Built: 1886 Architect: Samuel "S.W." Brooks. The Old Hidalgo County Courthouse is located in the City of Hidalgo, Texas. This community is situated right on the Rio Grande River and is a port of entry from Mexico to the United States. Old town Hidalgo is a...
Bee County Courthouse (Beeville)
Architect: William C. Stephenson and Fritz W. Heldenfels Year Built: 1912. The Bee County Courthouse is located in Beeville, Texas. From the Application for National Register of Historic Places: The Bee County Courthouse, the county's fourth courthouse, became a...
Real County Courthouse (Leakey)
Architect: H.A. Reuter Year Built: 1918. The Real County Courthouse is located in Leakey, Texas. It is designed in the Classical Revival style, and is constructed of native limestone quartered nearby. The grounds are populated with mature oak trees and a thick carpet...
Mills County Courthouse (Goldthwaite)
Architect: Henry T. Phelps Year Built: 1913. The Mills County Courthouse is located in the central Texas town of Goldthwaite. It is a three-story Classical Revival-style building made of brick with a cast stone basement. This courthouse replaced the first courthouse...
Jim Hogg County Courthouse (Hebbronville)
Architect: Henry T. Phelps Year Built: 1913 The 1913 Jim Hogg County Courthouse is the only courthouse the county has ever had. Designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps, it has been remodeled several times and it's an icon in the Hebbronville, Texas skyline....
San Patricio County Courthouse (Sinton)
Architect: Henry T. Phelps Year Built: 1928 The current San Patricio County Courthouse is located in Sinton, Texas. It is the 6th courthouse for San Patricio County. It replaced the 1893 courthouse designed by James Riely Gordon (demolished in 1927). Phelps also...
BONUS: “Old” Gillespie County Courthouse (Fredericksburg)
Architect: Alfred Giles Year Built: 1882 The 1882 Courthouse was the second one built in Gillespie County, Texas. It was used until 1939, and currently sits on the same block (and directly next to) the modern (1939) Gillespie County Courthouse. Alfred Giles also...
Willacy County Courthouse (Raymondville)
Architect: Henry T. Phelps Year Built: 1922 The Willacy County Courthouse is located in Raymondville - part of the Rio Grande Valley in Deep South Texas. Raymondville was formed in 1904 by Edward Burleson Raymond, a foreman of the El Sauz Ranch portion of the King...
San Saba County Courthouse (San Saba)
Architect: Walter Chamberlain Year Built: 1911 Contractor: Falls County Construction Company The following narrative is taken from the San Saba Historic Courthouse Master Plan prepared by Mr. Kim Williams of The Williams Company, AIA (internal citations removed):...
Hamilton County Courthouse (Hamilton)
Architect: Martin, Byrnes & Johnston Year Built: 1886 From the Texas Historical Commission: The Hamilton County Courthouse, originally built in 1887, was transformed by efforts to modernize and expand the building in 1932. It embodies eclectic elements of style...
BONUS: Texas Supreme Courtroom – Texas Capitol Building
The Texas judicial branch, responsible for interpreting state law, once had its center in the Capitol. The Supreme Court met in beautifully designed room on the third floor north wing. The Supreme Court judges presided in a room with plush carpeting, walnut furniture...