Texas County Courthouses – Together

This is a Texas County Courthouse site with a twist – I will be blogging as I update courthouse pages and as we travel to capture new courthouse photos. So feel free to jump in and add comments about the courthouses, about the photos, or about the shared travels.

 

My name is Tom and this is my first attempt at a blog. I’ve chosen a Texas theme so that I can do three things at once: Travel the entire state of Texas; share my experience; and document the tremendous variety & grandeur that make the collection of Texas County Courthouses. I will be sharing photos, my impressions of each courthouse and any other sights or happenings as we travel. We’ve already visited over 90 of the courthouses – and I will be adding these – a few each week. For each courthouse, I will be providing you the courthouse information including when it was built; who the architect was, the style, and my impressions. I will also be adding extras where encountered – like extant courthouses or old jail houses. So join Clem and me as we travel this great state we call home – Texas.

How to view photographs:  Most of the pages were made with NextGen.  They automatically load a slideshow.  You can also click on the top of the slide show where it says “Show Picture List”.  If you do this, you get a display of the thumbs of the photos – and you can click on any single picture and get an enlargement.  You can also, at this point, decide to click on “View with PicLens”.  If you do this – you get a full screen slide show that you move forward and backward yourself.  Three different ways to enjoy the thousands of Texas photos.

Wander around – there’s more to this site than courthouses(see Other).  But if it courthouses you’re after (and why else would you be here?) – then go to the courthouse collection. Think you need some instructions on how to navigate this site?  Then click here for some guidance.


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Far West Texas is now Posted

With the posting of these far western counties, we can announce the project as completed. The goal was travel all of Texas – even the remotest of counties and we met that goal

These counties represented the highs and lows of Texas County Courthouses. Some of the towns are bustling and alive with activity – while others are just hanging on. This area contains the Permian Basin – and all that black gold. There are mountains and deserts – but not a lot of lakes.

If you’re short on time – THE TOP COURTHOUSES on this trip included: Presidio County, Jeff Davis County, Brewster County, Crockett County and a restored Glasscock County. Other counties visited include: El Paso, Hudspeth, Midland, Ector, Pecos, Upton, Andrews, Martin, Loving, Ward, Reeves, Winkler, Crane, and Culberson.

But of course, that’s not all to be seen. As usual, we captured some of the old jails in film – including: Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, and Martin county jails.

Most of the towns we visited were not particularly ‘photogenic’ – we did take some pics in a few of them so that you could get a flavor of West Texas. Some were kind of wasting away – while others seemed to be doing quite well. The towns included are: Mentone, Odessa, Stanton, Marfa, Alpine, Sierra Blanca, Ft. Davis, Van Horn, El Paso and Ozona.

We also visited Bush’s Boyhood Home in Midland, the Odessa Meteor Crater, and Ft. Davis National Monument.

Last, but not least, this was West Texas with a tremendous amount of driving. So, I’ve included photos grouped by sections of the trip. There is: The Drive to Odessa, The Drive to Van Horn, The Drive to Alpine, Alpine to Ft. Davis, and The Drive from Alpine to Sonora. I especially like the photos of the trailer flat tire in the middle of almost nowhere!!

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And the Journey Continues!

When I last left you – we had done 7 courthouses (plus a revisit to another). Well, the next day, we headed into Odessa to capture their less than outstanding courthouse. We then headed out to see the Odessa Crater site. A bit underwhelming. But if you’re visiting Odessa – you may find this to be a highlight.

Next came Winkler County Courthouse – man can you skip this courthouse. Did have lots of high school decorations for ??? Please note the crane out front if you decide to look at these photos. The county seat is Crane – get it? While there, we noticed how quiet it was (we saw no one in the courthouse) – I’m thinking that the girl’s volleyball team was playing somewhere in the playoffs?

And finally we headed into Midland. The courthouse is basically an office tower. We did get to the George W. Bush boyhood home. While I’m not the biggest Bush fan, I did enjoy the trip back to the 50’s. Very well done!

The next morning (yesterday), we left Odessa for Van Horn. Small town in the middle of no where – but there is life here, and if you enjoy the quiet desert life – you might think about this town. Van Horn is the county seat for Culberson County. What a let down. This courthouse ranks right up there on the bottom list with Crane, the one in Rockport – and other nondescript 50’s style courthouses.

On the way to Van Horn, we had a tire blowout! Does this never end?! Called AAA, and within an hour we were back on the road to Van Horn – where we stayed overnight.

Today – we headed west – far west! We visited Sierra Blanca and the Hudspeth Courthouse there. The courthouse had some interest. The town bordered on being a ghost town. I don’t mean it is a ghost town – but there are some many abandoned buildings it has that feel.

The final leg of this trip was El Paso, and I have to say – their courthouse was little more than I expected. True – it is an office building sitting downtown. But – there have been pains taken to ensure the building has some reflection of the area’s history. And the view from the 12th floor is awesome.

End of day – back to Van Horn. A little storm started brewing near town and we say rolling tumbleweed, lighting, and lots of dust – but no rain.

We only have 5 courthouses left!!!!!

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Direct from West Texas!

The journey to visit all Texas’ 254 counties began some 20 or so years ago. What better way to get out to every area of Texas? It’s been a long odyssey with a lot of highs and lows – and this trip is giving us both. We’re currently in the Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa) – and what an eyeopening visit it has been. The dust, bad roads, traffic, oil rigs, oil pumps, and thousands of rv areas – these workers have to live somewhere/ I’m not sure I would like living here – but I understand the draw ( $$$$$$$$$),

We’ve already visited 7 courthouses, revisited 1, and have 11 to go. We’ve been struck with some misfortune mainly concerning our travel trailer. Driving down the highway, we noticed part of the rv outer ‘skin’ pulling away from the trailer. We taped that down with good ole masking tape. Then we made our first stop – and man – trying to back the trailer into a very narrow drive, not very level, around a imperfectly placed small tree – but Clem’s a master, and we got it in for the night.

Then we headed to Midland/Odessa – and parking the rv wasn’t much better. We were given a space – narrow, short, requiring a very sharp turn into a tree limb! Eventually, a park hand directing Clem into the spot. Then – that night it commenced to rain – better said — pour. We left the awning out just a little, but it caught the rain and collapsed on one end. When we got up the next morning, we assessed the situation – figured out why it collapsed (the trapped rain water), took care of it and everything turned out OK. What a trip so far!

I will start updating some of the county pages over the next few days. The photos will probably have to wait until we return home.

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The Upper Panhandle!

A little over a month an a half ago, we completed our tour of the upper Panhandle of Texas.  This now only leaves far west Texas with about 10 – 15 counties.  This trip included 19 counties and a revisit to Swisher County.  This collection of courthouses probably provided a few more courthouse beauties than I expected.  Anyway, I’m finding it harder to sit down and cull the photographs, spruce ’em up, posting, documenting, commenting – then with past treks – could be age.  Now, having said that – you can click on the Texas Maps (the gray map, and the Google map are updated) above and go to any of the counties in the Panhandle you wish and they’ll all have photos.  In fact, they’ll all have the basic courthouse info I provide with each posting.  However there are only 3 courthouses with all that AND my personal notes – Carson County, Sherman County and Hansford County – so you might want to wander there first.  I will, over the next few weeks, completing all the counties, plus other stops such as town squares – old jails – windmill park – a retired courthouse with a ‘boot hill’ near by.  The other county courthouses photos are posted – so if you can’t wait – here are the links:  Armstrong, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Potter, Deaf Smith, Randall, Oldham, Ochiltree, Donley, Hall, Gray, Wheeler, Roberts, Hutchinson, Moore, and Collingsworth Counties.

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Wine in Christmas in the Panhandle

 

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The South Plains

Well, we finally took a chunk out of the remaining courthouses.  We were able to take in 21 counties around Lubbock – the High Plains.  That still leaves about 35 courthouses located in the other part  of the Panhandle (around Amarillo) and West to Far West Texas.  This trip was somewhat unusual.  It reminds me of why we wanted to go to all the counties – to see all of Texas.  This area was VERY agriculture-centric, with cotton being the biggest crop.  There is quite a bit of oil activity in the area.  And the biggest share of Texas wine grapes are grown around Lubbock.  And I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t mention the wind farms.  There’s a lot of wind to be found on the plains and the multitude of wind farms take advantage.  The towns and cities were at times, very busy, energetic and active.  In some other instances – there were shells of town – or a few where there really was no town at all (think Dickens).  We were very surprised at all the things to do and see in and around Lubbock (including quite a few places in nearby Slaton).  So come along and take a journey with us through the South Plains of Texas.

Two of the courthouses we visited were in the midst of serious renovation/restoration – they are Swisher and Lynn Counties.  We also revisited Dawson County thinking we hadn’t been there before.  Oh, well – it does have nice mosaics over the doors.  The other courthouses included:  Borden, Garza, Crosby, Dickens, Motely, Hale, Hockley, Castro, Parmer, Bailey, Lamb, Lubbock, Briscoe, Cochran, Gaines, Floyd, Terry and Yoakum.  Overall, this group wasn’t too exciting.  A lot of 1930′ built or renovated.  Among the unusual was a corner judge bench in Dickens County.  And a witness seat in Briscoe that was right next to the jury box – like touching close!

We photographed one retired courthouse – Yoakum.  We also got some old/historic jails in Borden, Briscoe, Dickens, Hale, Hockley, Motley, Parmer, and Swisher Counties.

The towns we included for photographs include these towns that seem to have seen better days – or maybe never had them:  Dickens, Gail, Matador, Silverton, Quitaque, Crosbyton and Morton. Tulia, BrownfieldDimmitt, Plainview, Post, Crosbyton, Floydada, Levelland, Slaton and obviously Lubbock – all seem a little more robust and active.  And finally – the extras.  The other things we were able to work in and take in – the National Ranch Heritage Center, Buddy Holly Museum and Plaza,  theaters of the Plains, the many ‘dead’ theaters we encountered, Murals of the Plains,  and something I didn’t know about – the Ozark Trail Markers.  And while on the road we encountered Bob’s Oil Well Gas Station (a sight to behold) and Trilogy Cellars for the wine lovers.  Slaton offered its’ own treats – the Slaton Bakery, the Harvey House and the Slaton Model RR Station.

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Big Trip coming up (and new map being tried)

Well, I posted in September that there be some additions to add.  And in all reality, we did take in a new courthouse (Terrell County) and revisited Val Verde and Kinney Counties.  We revisited, as we had not gone in and taken any interior shots.  While it’s been awhile, I am behind in posting those and they should be coming soon.

But – I may not have time for awhile, as we will be taking a new trip and try to cut down on the number of counties in the Panhandle not yet photographed.  Also, I’m still working with iMap Builder for maps to locate counties and link to the web pages.  I have a new version – and have pasted the trial here.  The bright yellow are those to be visited soon.

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Maybe some additions soon.

Don’t get too excited, but I have some hopes of adding some new photos soon.  I did drive by Mt Vernon not too long ago, and stopped to take some exteriors shots of this restored courthouse.  When we first visited, the courthouse was in the midst of restoration, so I thought some updates were called for.  Still, it was the weekend and it was closed.  No interior shots except through the glass doors.

We’re taking a short trip out to near West Texas and hope to add one more on this trip.  I don’t want to name – might jinx my hopes.

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Local Courthouses Revisited

I had an engagement in Floresville – so I thought I would revisit a couple of previously visited courthouses.  We visited the Atascosa Courthouse many years ago, but as it was a Sunday – we did not go inside.  Same with the Wilson County Courthouse – and later the courthouse was closed due to structural problems.  Wilson County Courthouse was restored and is now open – so I took that in as well. Both counties lie next to Bexar County.

see Wilson County Courthouse – revisited
See Atascosa County Courthouse – revisited

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West Texas Visited

Nice quick trip to ‘West’ Texas.  This is the land of rattlesnakes, cattle, oil and windmills for energy as far as the eye can see.  Between Anson and Childress there were towns that are among the smallest in Texas.  In fact, King County is the second least populated county among the 254 Texas Counties.  The courthouses visited on this trip ran the gambit – from ultra modern – Scurry, Taylor, Nolan, Stonewall, Fisher, Kent and King, the art deco/moderne – Knox, Cottle, and Childress, and the somewhat more historic – Mitchell, Haskell, Jones, Foard, Wilbarger and Hardeman.  The courthouses in Jones and Cottle counties are among the most impressive in Texas.  The towns were mostly small and not very active – very typical of many parts of rural Texas.  But Abilene is very large, and Vernon, Childress, Snyder, Sweetwater, Colorado City, Quanah and even Anson – are obviously centers of commerce.  The small towns visited included: Benjamin, Guthrie, Crowell, Paducah, Haskell, Jayton, Aspermont and Roby.  Taking a look at these towns will give you a really good feel for West Texas.  The retired courthouses were visited in KingTaylor and Stonewall counties.  The retired King County Courthouse is now an impressive museum.  It’s often locked – but you can get the key and walk through on your own.  And finding the old Stonewall courthouse is difficult.  Wear your boots – there are rattlesnakes around!  We got pictures of old jails in Cottle, Fisher, Foard, King, Knox, Scurry and Childress Counties.  We were shown through the old King County jail by the County Extension Agent.  It’s stll pretty well intact.  A lot to take in – but with so much of West Texas and the Panhandle to go – we had to dive in somewhere.  Enjoy your visit to West Texas.

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