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 Texas : Architecture : Courthouses : Stephenville

Erath County Courthouse
County Seat - Stephenville, Texas

Date - 1892
Architect - J. Riely Gordon.

Text and contemporary photos by Sam Fenstermacher

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Erath County courthouse  tower Erath County courthouse Stephenville Texas vintage photo Erath County Courthouse
Constructed mainly of Pecos red sandstone and locally quarried white limestone
L: Courthouse tower today
R: Courthouse c.1939 TXDoT
The Erath County Courthouse is a substantial three story edifice constructed of local white limestone and red Pecos sandstone. The tower of the building extends to a height of 95 feet, and the building's base measures 60 by 80 feet.
Erath county courthouse courtroom

Courtroom
Erath county courthouse balcony Courtroom balcony
Erath county courthouse tower Erath county courthouse window L: Courthouse tower interior
R: Window view

This building presents a variation on a traditional theme in early Texas courthouses of intersecting halls on the first floor dividing the first floor space into four major areas. The twist is that the tower walls extend down through the center of the building creating an open central space on the first floor. This central space or atrium has no immediate ceiling and is open to the second and third floors.

Iron staircases on the east and west sides of the building provide access to the upper levels. The district courtroom occupies the south side of the building on the second and third floors. This courtroom features a high ceiling that arches above to the third story balcony.

The Erath County Courthouse underwent extensive restoration in 2002 and the work was nearly complete in January of 2003.


Copyright © 2003 by Sam Fenstermacher, All rights reserved
Bibliography: Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas. "http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/, 2003.

See also :
Erath County courthouse by Lou Ann Herda, Ed. D.

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