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The
restored Cooke County Courthouse
Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
The Present Cooke
County Courthouse
- Gainesville, Texas Date
- 1911
Architect - Lang & Witchell
Style - Beaux-Arts
Material
- Brick and stone
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988.
Location - Dixon
Street, between California and Main Streets
Photographer's Note:
"The
current 1911 Cooke County courthouse replaced the 1878 courthouse which burned
in 1909. The chief architects, Lang and Witchell, designed similar looking courthouses
in Johnson
County and Scurry
County (later remodeled) around the same time. According to legend, the first
Cooke County courthouse, a log structure built in 1850, was destroyed by a steer
trying to escape a swarm of flies." - Terry
Jeanson, June 27, 2009
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Historical
Marker TextCooke
County CourthouseSettlement
of the area now known as Cooke County began in late 1845. The county was created
by the State Legislature in 1848 and named for William G. Cooke, Republic of Texas
Quartermaster General and a participant in the Battle
of San Jacinto. Land for a county seat was donated by Mary E. Clark, and the
new town was Gainesville in honor of U.S. Army
General Edmund Pendleton Gaines.
There have been four courthouses located
on this site. The first, a small log structure, was erected in 1850. It was replaced
in 1853 by a one-story frame building which was later destroyed by fire. The third
courthouse, a two-story limestone structure, was completed in 1880 and destroyed
by fire in 1909.
Designed by the Dallas architectural firm of Lang and
Witchell, construction of this Beaux Arts style courthouse began in 1910. The
Gainesville firm of Garrett and Collins served as supervising architects, and
M. P. Kelly of Gainesville was the contractor.
The impressive brick and limestone building features terra cotta ornamentation,
eagle brackets, and a copper-clad dome. Clocks were added to the dome in 1920
as a World War I memorial. The courthouse
is an important North
Texas Landmark.
Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1988. |
Cooke
County Courthouse Historical Marker
on courthouse square
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 |
Cooke
County courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Cooke
County Courthouse as it appeared in 2003
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson |
The
1911 Cooke County Courthouse Southwest corner
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
"The
courthouse during the exterior restoration. The exterior was completed and the
courthouse rededicated in October of 2006. The interior is also being restored."
- Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 photo |
Cooke
County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 |
The
central clock tower with copper-clad dome
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 |
Cooke
County Courthouse skylight,
all cleaned up with new paint on the walls.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
| "The
district courtroom has been restored to its original size and two story height.
The stained glass windows and most of the plaster molding on the walls were still
intact, just covered up by the previous false ceiling." - Terry
Jeanson,
November 2011 photo |
| "Rear
of the district courtroom. This courtroom never had a second story balcony but
the upper windows used to swivel open. They have been sealed shut for security
and safety reasons." - Terry
Jeanson, November
2011 photo |
Looking
down at the rotunda staircase from the fourth floor
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
On
second floor west side staircase looking east
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
1911 Cooke County courthouse
with large clock tower & undersized clocks
1920s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Cooke
County courthouse in the 1930s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Cooke
County courthouse in the late 1930s
Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Another
view of the 1911 Cooke County Courthouse
Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
The
1878 Cooke County Courthouse
1908 Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
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