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THE JEFFERSON COUNTY
COURTHOUSE
County
Seat - Beaumont, TexasJefferson
County has had four courthouses:
1838, 1855, 1893
and the present 1931
courthouse with 1981
addition |
Text
from the historical marker in front of the courthouse:
"The first
county building constructed at this site was a jailhouse completed in 1838, two
years after the organization of Jefferson County. Located on land acquired from
Nancy Tevis, a pioneer settler of the area, it also housed county offices and
courts. When the commissioners court outgrew the facility, sessions were held
in private homes. The first courthouse here was completed in 1854. Built by John
A. Beaumont, it was a two-story square structure surrounded by a six-foot picket
fence. Baptist and Methodist congregations conducted Sunday services in the building
and during the Civil War it was leased to D. T. Inglehart, a Confederate surgeon,
for use as a hospital. A second courthouse was constructed in 1893
, twelve years after the incorporation of Beaumont.
Designed by E.
T. Heiner, it was a three-story red brick building with white trim. Following
the area oil boom of the 1920s it proved inadequate to meet the needs of the growing
population and was replaced by the present brick courthouse in 1931. Designed
by Fred Stone and A. Babin, the fourteen-story building features art deco styling
in the use of sculpted ornamentation and marble interior work." |
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The
1931 Jefferson County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
The 1931 Jefferson
County Courthouse -
Beaumont, TexasDate
- 1931
Architect - Fred C. Stone & A. Babin
Style - Moderne. 14 Stories
Material - Stone and brick
Location - 1149 Pearl St. at Franklin, Beaumont
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"The
ultimate potential of the skyscraper to serve as an icon of Texas government was
demonstrated in Beaumont in 1931." Professor Jay C. Henry in Architecture in Texas
1895 - 1945
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
High-rise
courthouses are a rare item in Texas. If you counted
them on one hand; you'd still have a few fingers left over. Just when tall buildings
came into vogue, money was tight and Art Deco was a little too flashy for counties
wanting to modernize their courthouse. Art Deco might appeal to Dallasites, but
most local governments felt that county business should be conducted under no-nonsense
clocktowers and flagpoles - and not under the gaze of fancy streamlined eagles.
Jefferson County has always enjoyed going a little against the grain.
Besides their tall courthouse, they are also the only county seat in Texas to
have erected a completely separate sub-courthouse (in Port
Arthur). Other counties hit by the Depression had to forgo courthouse replacements,
but Beaumonts oil reserves made the future look
bright and Beaumonters were eager to add to the impressive collection of downtown
buildings they had been busily erecting in the twenties.
They may have
looked eastward to Baton Rouge at what would become Huey P. Long's beautiful monument
to himself (AKA The Louisiana State Capitol) or they may have looked westward
at the plans for the still-to-be-built San
Jacinto monument. |
 |
Jefferson County Courthouse close up view
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
| The Deco
details of the courthouse include carved limestone vignettes of lumbermen, farmers,
oilmen and cowboys at work. Work was a wonderful thing to celebrate now that so
many people had the time to sit around and miss it. |
Details
over the windows on the side of the east wing
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
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Deco Texano
TE photo 9-04 |
| | Deco
Eagle Detail
TE photo 9-04 |
| | Main
Entrance
TE photo 9-04 |
| | Details
and Texture
TE photo 9-04 |
| | One
of the flagpole bases.
TE photo 9-04 |
| | The
Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo Courtesy TxDoT |
| | Even
from the tracks, the building retains its dignity
TE Photo 9-04 |
| |
Cow skull and
oil derrick detail
TE photo 9-04 |
| Along
with all of the intricate carvings, there are sayings carved near the roof on
the front and back of the east and west wings. The ones on the front read : "Wisdom
Justice Power - Guardians of the Law" and "Equity and Utility - Foundations of
the Law" The ones on the back read: "Let the Public Good Be Served" and "Let Liberty
Be Regulated By Law" - Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 photos |
| The
carved dedication over the front entrance reads as follows: "In the fullness of
our county's happiness and prosperity is erected this building dedicated to the
affairs of all her citizens." - Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 photos |
The
317th District Courtroom
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
More
courtroom details
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
The
500 acres that comprise downtown Beaumont are
sprinkled with Deco details. A few block away the First National Bank Building
(c.1937) on Orleans Street has more work-related carvings, and the Federal building
has artistic longhorn skulls carved over all entrances. The Kyle
Block (the 200 block of Orleans Street) is a rare example of Zigzag Deco.
The closest design to the brick Jefferson County courthouse could very well
be the much shorter stone courthouse
for Eastland County in Eastland,
Texas. |
| | Jefferson
County Courthouse
TE photo 9-04 | |
|
| In
comparing this courthouse to the famous Nebraska State Capitol, Professor Henry
states: "The detailing is skillfully handled to emphasize the vertical proportions,
but this courthouse seems more related to commercial skyscrapers of the late 1920s
[than to the Nebraska Capitol Building]. |
| The
modern Jefferson County courthouse was built in 1981 out of pink granite. The
design comes from the White Budd Van Ness Partnership. - Terry
Jeanson, December 2007 |
The
1893 Jefferson County Courthouse
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
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