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 Texas : Architecture : Courthouses :

ROBERTSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE
County Seat - Franklin, Texas

Robertson County has had 5 County Seats:
Old Franklin, Wheelock, Owensville, Calvert and the present Franklin.

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Franklin TX Robertson County Courthouse
Robertson County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2008

The Present Robertson County Courthouse
Franklin, Texas

Date - 1882
Architect - F. E. Ruffini
Style - Second Empire
Material - Stone

See Robertson County Courthouse Historical Marker
Franklin TX Robertson County Courthouse
"The east side and rear view of the courthouse. Modern additions have been built to the rear (right side of this picture) and west sides of the original courthouse." - Terry Jeanson, December, 2005
Both Ruffini Brothers (Oscar and Frederick) frequently used Mansard roofs and such was the case here, except that the roof in Franklin was removed during a 1924 remodeling. F.E. Ruffini also designed the 1882 Robertson County jail.

Photographer's Note:
The architect, F.E. Ruffini, designed similar looking courthouses in Williamson (1879) and Hays (1882) counties. - Terry Jeanson

Franklin was originally named Morgan at the time it was established in 1872.
Franklin TX Robertson County Courthouse front entrance
Robertson County Courthouse Entrance
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, July, 2007
Franklin TX Robertson County Courthouse Historical Marker
Robertson County Courthouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November, 2004
Historical Marker Text

Robertson County Courthouse

Erected in 1882 at a cost of $30,000, this white limestone building is the fourth to serve as Robertson County Courthouse.

In 1879 the county seat had been moved for the fifth time, to Morgan, on the International & Great Northern Railroad. But because Texas already had a post office named Morgan, the town was renamed Franklin for the first county seat, which was named for pioneer Will Franklin.

Plans for a courthouse were begun that year; and in 1881 the construction was started, under F. E. Ruffini, architect. Since then the building has been remodeled.
Robertson County courthouse, Franklin Texas
Robertson County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT

Former Calvert Courthouse:

Former Robertson County Courthouse, Calvert, Texas
The former Courthouse in Calvert
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, Spetember 2004
Robertson County Courthouse historical marker, Calvert, Texas
Former Calvert Courthouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Stephen Michaels, May 2008
Historical Marker Text
Former Calvert Courthouse
Most imposing public building in early Robertson County.

After becoming county seat in 1870, Calvert lost many leaders in 1873 yellow fever epidemic. As planned, this Courthouse was begun in 1875; but before its completion, Franklin was named county seat, in 1879.

Robert A. Brown, a merchant, investor and planter, purchased this building in 1885. With help of his wife, Lucy Herndon Brown, he made it into a residence.

In 1909 his heirs sold it to Mrs. Fannie L. Hammond, in whose family it remained until 1966, when it became a museum.
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Franklin, Texas
Robertson County Jail
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