9/10 - 9/11/11: Columbus, Wharton, Bay City, Angleton, Richmond

Burned area just outside of Bastrop.  Just a piece of the 34,000 acres that have burned in the last week.

Columbus courthouse, 1891.

Architect: Eugene T. Heiner

Gorgeous, but closed for remodeling - mental note to self: must come back and see the stained-glass dome inside!  Nice little town.  

Wharton veteran's memorial with an actually-burning (not all of them are, I swear this one is) eternal flame. 

Wharton courthouse, 1889.  

Architect: Eugene T. Heiner

Hometown of Dan Rather.  The clocks were all right too - that's unusual!  

Nice town square, nice town.

Bay City courthouse, 1965.

Architects: Rusty, Martin & Vale  

Definitely one of the ugliest ones.

Angleton courthouse, 1940.

Architect: Lamar Q. Cato

Angleton courthouse, 1976.

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick & Co.

Angleton courthouse, 1897.  

Architect: Eugene T. Heiner

Probably remodeled on the exterior because no other late-1800's courthouses look like this.

We've NEVER seen 3 courthouses in one town! And all 3 are still in use: the oldest is the county museum, the other 2 are still courthouses.

Interior of the Richmond courthouse, 1909.  We didn't get in (it's Sunday), this was taken through the glass in the door.

Richmond courthouse, 1909.

Architect: Pierce Goodwin, Alexander Linville.

6/4/12: Nooooo!!!  The 1909 courthouse is no longer in use!  There's a new, UGLY one now!  : (

Richmond with it's two additions and jail.

8/20 Comanche, Stephenville, Hamilton, Gatesville

Goldthwaite finished!  It was surrounded by fence when we saw it in April.

Comanche courthouse, 1941. 

Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick

Old Cora courthouse.  The oldest remaining courthouse in Texas, although not in use anymore.  Built in 1856.

Stephenville courthouse, 1892.  

Architect: James Riely Gordon

Gordon also did 2 other buildings in town, so Stephenville is worth visiting if only for that! It is a nice town though.  

J. Riely Gordon's bank in Stephenville.

J. Riely Gordon's Crows Opera House in Stephenville.

Old Hamilton jail, built in the 1930's.

Hamilton courthouse, 1932.  

Architects:  1932: E. M. Miles

1887: Mason, Martin, Byrnes & Johnston

 Apparently the older one, built in 1887, is in the middle of the newer one.  Hamilton is a cute town and has a good radio station!

Gatesville courthouse, 1897.  

Architect: W. C. Dodson

 Apparently the dome inside is spectacular, so we'll have to go back during the week when it's open.

Old Gatesville jail.

Boerne, Bandera, Kerrville, 8/10/11 - one last go before The Job starts again.

Inside the Boerne courtroom - still in use today, in the old part of the courthouse, built in 1870.

The Boerne courthouse, front part added on to the old back in 1909.

Architects: 1870: Phillip Zoeller & S. F. Stendebalk

1910 facade: Alfred Giles

Boerne is a tourist town, but not obnoxiously so!  Ye Kendall Inn is a nice place to stay, in the heart of downtown.  We had kolaches from Little Gretel, which were terrific.  Boerne also has a brewpub: the Dodging Duck, which has good beers and a good American menu.

Bandera courthouse, 1890, unfortunately nothing special inside.

Architect: B. F. Trester

Bandera is a cool town, with several dancehalls, good restaurants, and great camping, hiking, and mountain biking nearby at Hill Country State Natural Area.  

Old Bandera jail and courthouse, 1868.  Interestingly, the "courthouse" wasn't actually built to be a courthouse - the only one of its kind we've seen yet. 

Kerrville courthouse, 1926.

Architect: Adams & Adams

We stayed at the YO Ranch Hotel here for the Kerrville Folk Festival, months after this visit, and had a great weekend!  The YO is really nice and of course, the Folk Festival is world-renowned.  We had dinner an unremarkable dinner at Billy Gene's.  

courthouses and breweries 7/28 & 29, Gonzales, Blanco

Inside the Gonzales courtroom - last time we were here, it was a weekend, so we couldn't go in.  On our way to the Spoetzl Brewery, in Shiner, where Shiner Bock beer is made!

Old Blanco courthouse, 1886.  Only used until 1890, when the county seat was moved to Johnson City. On our way to the Real Ale Brewery, in Blanco.  

Inside the old Blanco courtroom - this room was in "True Grit".

Aaron inside the old Blanco jail - barely big enough for 3 - 4 cots probably.  No cells like the other jails we've seen.

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.