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THE COURTHOUSES
OF VAN ZANDT COUNTY
By Terry
Jeanson
Van
Zandt County was organized in 1848 with Jordan’s
Saline, a town founded several years earlier, selected as the county seat.
The town was named for its founder, John Jordan, who had established a salt works
there. The county’s first courthouse, a building with a square floor plan,
possibly in the Greek Revival style, was built there the same year.
In
1850, Wood County was cut from land belonging to Van Zandt County, leaving the
county seat in the northeastern part of the county. The centrally located town
of Canton was selected as the new county seat in 1850.
Although surveyed in 1840, Canton was not actually settled
and laid out until 1850. It was founded by settlers from Old Canton in Smith County
who named it after their previous settlement. A log cabin was built in Canton
in 1850 to serve as the county’s second courthouse, but it was only
meant to be temporary. A third courthouse, a brick structure with a square
floor plan, was built in 1859 by contractor Frederick Ezell.
In
1872, the Texas and Pacific Railway built through the northern part of the county,
missing Canton by ten miles, but it went through Wills
Point in the northwestern part of the county. In 1873, the citizens
of Canton built a fourth courthouse, a fifty foot
square two-story wood frame building, replacing the 1859 courthouse which had
been condemned. The presence of the railroad helped Wills
Point to prosper and in 1877 they were able to wrestle the county seat away
from Canton, but armed citizens from Canton
went to Wills Point to
retrieve the county records. The Texas Supreme Court settled the affair by returning
the county seat to Canton. The feud between the two towns
led businessmen from Canton to establish their own extension
to the railroad at Edgewood, nine miles north of Canton.
Between
1894 and 1896,
the county’s fifth courthouse
was built. It was designed by architect James Riely Gordon and built by contractor
Otto P. Krueger. Gordon had already designed several
magnificent courthouses in Texas by this time and this courthouse shared many
of the design elements from his earlier buildings. Built of brick in the Richardsonian
Romanesque style on a Greek cross plan, the courthouse had a three-story main
section with a six-story tower with a copper eagle on top of a pyramidal roof.
The building contained corner entrances, dormers, chimneys and turrets with patterns
in the brick at the roof line. This structure served the county until it was demolished
in 1935 for the building of a sixth courthouse, but the cornerstone and copper
eagle survive and are displayed on the south lawn of the current courthouse grounds.
The county’s sixth,
and current courthouse, was built between 1936 and 1937.
It was built with funds from the Public Works Administration, costing $142,585.
It was decided that a modern courthouse was needed in order to provide much needed
work for men in the county. Constructed of brick with a cast stone veneer, the
courthouse was built by contractor L. W. Wentzel and designed by Wichita Falls
architects Voelcker and Dixon who had designed many courthouses in Texas from
1928 to 1940. Their Art-Moderne style of stepped massing with a vertical emphasis
and stone-carved Art-Deco details can be seen in most of the courthouses they
designed. This courthouse also includes stone-carved government symbols such as
fasces and scales of justice. It continues to serve the county today.
©
Terry
Jeanson
Source:
Courthouse information from the Texas Historical Commission County Atlas at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-county.htm.
Historical information from the Handbook of Texas Online. |
 |
Van Zandt County Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy
Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The
Present Van Zandt County Courthouse -
County
Seat - Canton, TexasDate
: 1937
Architect : Voelcker & Dixon
Style : Moderne
Material :
Brick
121 E. Dallas (Hwy 64)
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
| Van
Zandt County Courthouse detail
TE photo |
The
1937 courthouse has some fine architectural detail.
The Eagle
on the courthouse lawn was once a rite of passage for Van Zandt County boys who
would scale the old (1896)
courthouse to touch the Eagle.
Armed citizens of Canton marched on Wills
Point in 1872 when the townspeople of Wills
Point attempted to move the County Seat there. Canton
had been bypassed by the railroad. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the move
and ordered Van Zandt to "Keep their seat" in Canton.
Where to Stay > Canton
Hotels |
The
1937 Van Zandt County Courthouse
The granite centennial
marker at right honors the county namesake Isaac Van Zandt and his wife Francis.
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT |
| Art-Deco
ornamentation can be found in the ceiling molding in the courtroom and the interior
hallways. Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
1937
Van Zandt County courthouse historical marker
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
Historical
Marker TextVan Zandt
County CourthouseBuilt
in 1937 with public Works Administration funds, this is the sixth building to
serve as the Van Zandt County Courthouse. According to local lore, the commissioners
court decreed that a modern courthouse should be erected in order to provide jobs
for men of the county during the Depression era. The stepped massed edifice with
cast stone veneer walls features art deco and art moderne details and is noteworthy
for its vertical emphasis and its association with the architectural firm of Voelcker
and Dixon. The Wichita Falls and Houston-based firm designed several west Texas
courthouses in this style.
Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1999 |
Art-Deco
carvings on the south side of the courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The
1896 Van Zandt County Courthouse |
The
1896 Van Zandt County Courthouse
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
|
Historical
markter textSite
of 1896 Van Zandt County CourthouseIn
1894, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court approved construction of a new
brick courthouse at this site. Built between 1894 and 1896, it replaced a frame
courthouse that had served the county since shortly after the Civil War. The noted
San Antonio Architect J. Riely Gordon designed the 1896 courthouse in the Richardsonian
Romanesque style. Built on a Greek cross plan, it features a three-story main
structure and a six-story central tower with a copper
eagle statue at the top. The building was torn down in the 1930s.
Texas
Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 |
1896
Van Zandt County courthouse Historical marker in front of the present courthouse
in Canton
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The
1896 Van Zandt County courthouse cornerstone
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The
copper eagle and cornerstone from the 1896 courthouse are on the southeast corner
of the courthouse grounds.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006
More Texas
Eagles | | |
