7/23/11: San Antonio

San Antonio courthouse, 1896 - wow!

Architect: James Riely Gordon

San Antonio is great city for tourists, and the courthouse should be on everybody's list!  We actually parked our car at the southernmost historic Mission and rode our bikes up the Mission Trail to downtown.  The Mission Trail is new and parts are still being finished up, but it's usable and really nice!  If you visit in the summer, as we did, bring LOTS of water and snacks.  

7/7/11: Orange, Beaumont, Anahuac, Liberty, Hempstead, Bellville

Orange courthouse, 1932.

Architect: C. H. Page

Old Beaumont courthouse, 1931, being remodeled.  The old jail is on the top 3 floors, accessible only with a key.   This old courthouse is beautiful inside!

"New" Beaumont courthouse, 1980. 

Architect: Fred C. Stone & A. Babin

Anahuac courthouse, 1936.

Architect: Corneil G. Curtis

Liberty courthouse, 1930.

Architect: Corneil G. Curtis

Liberty is a cute town and the drive in from the south was lovely.

Hempstead courthouse, 1955. 

Architect: Voelcker & Dixon 

Bellville courthouse, 1961.  

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick

Replaced the original CH that was built in 1856 and burned in 1960. 

Austin County was settled by Stephen F. Austin, in San Felipe.  San Felipe burned and the county seat was moved to Bellville.   A really cute town.

Bellville jail.

6/8/11: Plainview, Tulia, Canyon, Amarillo, Dumas, Dalhart

Plainview courthouse - hard to see through the trees, and this was the best side!  1910. 

Architect: H. A. Overbeck

This courthouse has a gorgeous dome, but the morning sun made it hard to capture!  Plainview is a nice little town.

I swear this is the biggest grain silo in the country, it's GOT to be!  En route to Tulia...

Tulia courthouse, 1962. 

Architect: unknown 

Saw a lot of action in 1999, when one rogue officer arrested 46 people ("Tulia 46"), most of whom were African Americans (10% of the town's African American population) in a drug sting.  Eventually all were released and pardoned when it became obvious that the officer had no evidence and that the people were innocent.

Canyon courthouse, 1909, almost done being remodeled.

Architect: Robert G. Kirsch

This is NOT the current courthouse, which we didn't know upon our visit.  We WILL return in the future!  Canyon is a nice town, the University (West Texas State) museum is really good.

Old Amarillo courthouse, 1932.  

You can see the jail on the top floors - it was used until 1990!

New (1986) Amarillo courthouse.

Architect: Hucker & Parge

Dumas courthouse, 1931.  

Architect: Berry & Hatch

Here, we got a private tour from the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Joe!

Dumas courtroom.  County citizens take real pride in their courthouse!

Dalhart courthouse, 1922.

Architect: Smith & Townes

Dalhart is home of the XIT Ranch, the sale of which paid for the construction of the Texas State Capitol building, which is still the biggest in North America.  At the time, the XIT Ranch was the largest in the world (3 million acres), in the biggest state in the union.  Dalhart is a nice town. 

Epic Summer Road trip: 6/7/11: San Saba, Brady, Paint Rock, San Angelo, Sterling City, Big Spring

San Saba courthouse, 1911.  

Architect: Chamberlin & Co.

Brady courthouse, 1900.  

Architect: Martin & Moodie

Beautiful inside and out! Two local men stopped to ask us where we're from and to welcome us to their town! 

Brady jail.

Paint Rock courthouse, 1886. 

Architect: F. E. and Oscar Ruffini

 One of the oldest still in use!

San Angelo courthouse, 1923.

Architect: Anton F. Korn

San Angelo is a wool and mohair town, so there are painted sheep everywhere in downtown.  We had lunch at the River Valley Cafe (perfect) and drove out of town on River Road, which was lovely.

Sterling City courthouse, 1938.  

Architect: David S. Castle

Art deco style interior is nice.

Sterling City jail.

Big Spring courthouse, 1952. 

Architect: Puckett & French

The courtroom here is lovely.  Big Spring has an historic hotel that was being restored and remodeled, called the Settles Hotel.  It looked amazing on the outside and would be worth staying at if it turns out as lovely and ornate as the plans show. 

Doorway to courtroom in Big Spring - a woman working in the Sheriff's office told us all kinds of cool information and to come see this! 

4/24/11: Post, Gail, Snyder, Colorado City, Robert Lee, Ballinger, Coleman, Brownwood, Goldthwaite, Lampasas

Post courthouse, 1923.  

Architect: C. A. Carlander

Post was built by cereal magnate, C.W. Post, and his idea was a town where nobody had any debt!  It's a lovely little town with a neat depot.

Old Post jail.

Gail courthouse, 1936.

Architect: David S. Castle

 Founded by Gail Borden, of Borden milk!  Yep, no joke, Post and Borden in neighboring counties!   Gail is a tiny town, but there's a hitching post at the courthouse! 

Gail jail.  

Snyder courthouse, 1950.  

Architect: Lang & Witchell

Snyder boasts its exceedingly high number of bison that were killed in the county and has a monument to one of 2 White Buffalo that were killed in the county.

Colorado City courthouse, 1936.  

Architect: David S. Castle

Colorado City jail, still in use.

Robert Lee courthouse, 1956.

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick & Harry Weaver

Ballinger courthouse, 1936. 

Architect: Eugene T. Heiner

This is a great town, we plan to return to spend some real time here.  We didn't find the Carnegie Library, but we did see the huge cross on the hill!  

Ballinger jail, now storage.

Coleman courthouse, 1952.  

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick

Coleman has a lovely downtown, but was pretty quiet on a Sunday afternoon.

Coleman jail, 1890, perhaps the oldest jail still in use!  There's a dog run and a high-fenced basketball court that you can kind of see behind the red fence. 

Brownwood jail, 1902.  Now a museum.

Brownwood courthouse, 1917.

Architect: Henry T. Phelps

Goldthwaite courthouse, 1913.

Architect: Henry T. Phelps

This courthouse has since been finished! 

Nice town, we had lunch at the Subway while passing through once, because there wasn't anything else open on the weekend that accepted credit cards.

Goldthwaite jail, 1888, now county offices.

Lampasas courthouse corner stone.  Usually the corner stone is on the NW corner of the building, but this one was incorporated into the design above the doors! 

Lampasas courthouse, 1883.  

Architect: W. C. Dodson

One of our favorites!  And one of the oldest still in use!  Lampasas is a lovely town with a beautiful old depot that we will return to and spend more time there. 

4/23/11: Brownfield, Plains, Morton, Muleshoe, Farwell, Dimmitt, Littlefield, Levelland, Lubbock

Brownfield courthouse, 1925.

Architect: Peters & Haynes

1951 addition.  

There were no restaurants open for breakfast in Brownfield, so we had to eat breakfast at Subway, which was surprisingly decent, despite the inspirational music playing in the background.

Plains, 1927, old courthouse.

Plains, 1949, "new" courthouse.  

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick

There was no explanation for either courthouse being built so closely in time together, but we guessed it had to do with the discovery of oil in 1935.

Morton courthouse, 1926.  

Architect: W. R. Kaufman

Aaron the and the Native American statue.

Muleshoe courthouse, 1925.

Architect: M. C. Butler  

Muleshoe monument to mules and the work they did for us all!

Farwell courthouse, 1916. 

Architect: C. Risser

I found two heart-shaped pendants in the parking lot and then we crossed the state line into New Mexico to have green chile burgers and enchiladas in Clovis, at Sandra's.  Sandra's was delish!

Farwell jail, now used as storage.

Dimmitt courthouse, 1939.

Architect: Townes & Funk

Littlefield courthouse, 1953.  

Architect: Atcheson & Atkinson

Home of Waylon Jennings!  The old City Hall building has a jail in it, but was never a courthouse. 

Levelland jail, 1937.

Words inscribed above door say, "Fine to talk to prisoners"!

Levelland courthouse, 1927.

Architect: Preston Lee Walker

Levelland is known for tile mosaics throughout town, which are lovely and fun to find.

Lubbock courthouse, 1950.

Architect: Haynes & Kirby

Old Lubbock jail.