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It's a good
thing that General
Sam Houston wasn't blazing through Gonzales
in 1894 because torching their Romanesque Revival courthouse
would have been one difficult decision to make.
Bison Bill's and my first look at this limestone and red brick structure
came several years ago when Mr. and Mrs. Herda discovered that Shiner
did, in fact, have only one stoplight that was worth the wait. Since
Gonzales figured so much into Texas history and because it was only
eighteen miles west of Shiner,
going there was a must.
So before you could say, "Come and take it!," we were at the city
that will forever be remembered as where the Texans fired the first
shots upon Santa Anna's men.
This
courthouse is a beauty. It has arches and turrets and balconies
and columns, just about anything a bird would want. Unlike many
courthouses built during this time, the clock tower and roof have
not been removed or replaced, and the façade has not been stuccoed.
There is a discrepancy as to what kind of material was used in the
arches above the windows, the railings, and the base of the building.
One source says it is of limestone quarried from nearby. Another
says it is of pre-cast concrete blocks. Since my degree was in flappery
and not in geology, either one looks pretty good to this eagle-eye
reporter.
It is understood that J. Riely Gordon is the architect, although
Otto Kroeger of San Antonio is instead listed as contractor.
At the time, county officials considered Gordon a "rich city architect."
However, his papers at the University of Texas, Austin, prove that
he was the one who designed this courthouse.
Inside
the courthouse on the first floor are three paintings by artist
Carl Reuter, an 1870s German emigrant. One portrays downtown
Gonzales in 1876 when cows were driven instead of cars. Thorton
Chisolm himself used to drive his cows through Gonzales on his way
to market in Missouri.
In another,
the artist depicts the 1836 siege of the Alamo where thirty-two
men from Gonzales were the only men who answered the plea of Colonel
Travis. All defenders perished at the Alamo. Sam Houston's order
to retreat and the burning of Gonzales began what is known as the
Runaway Scrape.
A third painting shows a 1925 view of the town as seen from somewhere
near the Old Jail next to the courthouse.
Speaking of
the Old Jail, architect
Eugene T. Heiner, who also designed other grand Texas courthouses,
designed this jail to "hold 150 to 200 prisoners in case of a riot."
It had a room specifically for "lunatics" which was later used for
women and children. Now, I'm not making any comparisons, but if
you tell this story to women and children now, you probably will
incite a riot.
The
Legend of the Courthouse Clock
On March 18, 1921, while awaiting his death, convicted killer Albert
Howard cursed the clock forever... more
Gonzales has had four courthouses since the county was created
in 1837. The third one, built in 1857, had a cistern in the middle
of the courthouse that could hold over three hundred barrels of
water. It obviously didn't hold enough because on December 3, 1893,
the courthouse burned down. The cistern didn't reappear until 1975
when a front-end loader disappeared under the ground.
The Old Jail is now a museum, but the courthouse, recently
restored, is as good as ever. General Houston would be proud to
see how the town that he burned in 1836 has become the vital community
it is today.
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