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CASS
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
County Seat - Linden, Texas
Cass
County has only had one courthouse |
Cass
County courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December, 2006 |
Date
- 1861
Architect - Charles Ames
Style - Classical Revival
Material
- BrickPhotographer's
Note:
The Cass
County Courthouse - Past and Future
Known as the oldest continually used county courthouse in Texas, the 1861 Cass
County courthouse in Linden
has seen its share of changes through the years.
The town of Jefferson
was the first county seat of Cass County, but that changed after Linden was established
in 1852. (Jefferson eventually
became the county seat of Marion County when that county was organized in 1860.)
The first courthouse was a two-story, wood frame structure built on the same site
as the current courthouse in 1852. The building of the current courthouse, designed
by Cass County Judge Charles Ames, began in 1859 and it opened in 1861, but it
wasn’t actually completed until 1865 because of the disruption of the Civil War.
It was a two-story, Italianate style building made of locally fired brick with
a hipped roof and a central, square drum with a small cupola on top. It retained
this appearance until 1900 when an addition was built onto the building’s east
side. The front and rear entrances received two-story, pedimented porticoes with
gabled roofs and two pairs of Doric columns sometime afterwards. In 1908, a tornado
swept through Linden, damaging the town and the courthouse, destroying the building’s
cupola. The courthouse was repaired and the cupola restored the following year.
East and west side wings were completed by 1918.
In 1933, a fire damaged
the upper floors and the courtroom in the center of the building. Repairs were
completed in 1934, but the cupola was not restored and a third story was added.
The building’s brick was later covered with stucco and painted white with tan
trim. |
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The
courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
The courthouse’s current
appearance reflects the Greek Revival or Classical Revival style of architecture.
Over the years, renovations to the interior have made the courthouse look like
a modern office building.
In January of 2008, Cass County was awarded
a grant from the Texas Historical Commission for $4.4 million towards the restoration
of their courthouse. Along with the addition of updated electrical and plumbing
systems, the interior and exterior will be returned to their 1934 appearance,
restoring the original colors, ceiling molding, cornices and other architectural
details and removing the dropped ceilings. Structural changes to the building
since its construction makes it impossible to return the building to its 1860s
appearance. The restoration should begin sometime in 2009. - Terry
Jeanson, July 24, 2008
Jefferson
Hotels |
Cass
County courthouse back view
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December, 2006 |
| "The
steel vault door on the first floor will be included in the building's upcoming
restoration." - Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
Cass
County courthouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December, 2006 | |
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