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JONES COUNTY COURTHOUSE
County Seat - Anson, Texas

Jones County has had four courthouses:
ca. 1881, 1884, 1886 and 1910

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Anson Texas Jones County Courthouse today
Jones County Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2003

The Present Jones County Courthouse
- Anson, Texas

Date - 1910
Architect - Elmer George Withers
Style - Beaux-arts
Material - Brick
The Jones County Courthouse was completed at a cost of $100,000.


Historical Markers:
Jones County Courthouse Historical Marker
Jone County Marker
Anson TX downtown 1940s
Anson downtown in 1940s showing Jones County Courthouse
Click on image to enlarge

Photo courtesy Nancy Bailey

Historical Marker:

Jones County Courthouse

The Seventh Texas Legislature created Jones County in 1858 and named it for Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the area's untamed wilderness combined to postpone the county's formal organization until 1881. Voters selected Jones City, later renamed Anson, as permanent county seat.

The first permanent courthouse was a small frame building, which served until the county purchased a hotel in 1884 for use as a courthouse. An 1886 brick courthouse served the county for the next 24 years. In late 1909, the Jones County commissioners court, led by County Judge J. R. Stinson, determined that the growth of the county called for a larger courthouse. They selected Elmer G. Withers of Stamford (15 mi. N) and the Texas Building Company of Fort Worth as architect and contractor, respectively.

Completed in 1910, the Jones County courthouse is an excellent example of Beaux Arts styling, with influences from the Arts and Crafts movement found in the decorative painting uncovered during a 1990s rehabilitation on the ceiling of the district courtroom. Other notable features include the statue of Lady Justice atop the domed clock tower and the pedimented porticoes with flanking pairs of Ionic columns on each façade. Constructed of brick and Pecos red sandstone, the Jones County courthouse continues to stand as an important part of Anson's architectural heritage and a center of politics and government for the citizens of the county.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000

Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse before remodeling
Jones County Courthouse before remodeling
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
Photographer's Note:

"The roof was remodeled shortly after this courthouse was built, removing the turrets on the corner pavilions and shortening the height of the clock tower."

"The door on the side of the front entrance staircase leads to the basement where there is a small county museum.

The architect of this courthouse, Elmer George Withers, grew up in Stamford, 17 miles north of Anson on the Jones/Haskell County line. Withers designed a similar looking courthouse for Swisher County in 1909, but it was dramatically remodeled in 1962, removing all of its Beaux-Arts style features." - Terry Jeanson
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse
The 1910 Jones County Courthouse today
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
1936 Centennial - Highway Marker

Jones County

Site of emigrant trail, the frontier military road, and Fort Phantom Hill, founded in 1851 to guard the military road. County created 1858 from Bexar and Bosque counties. Named for Anson Jones (1798-1858), a veteran of San Jacinto, minister to the U.S., Secretary of State and last President of the Texas Republic. Phantom Hill, in 1858-1861 a Butterfield Overland Mail Station, was in 1861-1865 a Civil War patrol point, trying to curb frontier raids by Indians. The county was recreated in 1876, organized 1881. Anson (at first called Jones City) is county seat.
(1965)
Anson Tx - Anson Jones Statue on courthouse grounds
Anson Jones Statue and Centennial Marker on courthouse grounds
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse  clock tower and statue of Themis on dome
A closer view of the clock tower with a statue of Themis on top of the dome.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Anson Texas Jones County Courthouse front entrance
Jones County Courthouse front entrance.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse  decorative capitals
Decorative capitals in the main floor hallway.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse  courtroom decorative  ceiling details
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse  courtroom decorative  ceiling details
Detailed artwork on the ceiling of the district courtroom.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Anson Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse  district  courtroom
"The district courtroom retains its original two-story height, but the upper gallery in the rear of the courtroom has been removed."
- Terry Jeanson, 2007 photo
Jones County Courthouse vintage photo, Anson, Texas
Jones County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT
Anson, Texas 1910 Jones County Courthouse front  view old postcard,
More early views of the Jones County Courthouse in Anson
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
1910 Jones County Courthouse old postcard, Anson, Texas
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
1910 Jones County Courthouse old postcard, Anson, Texas
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Anson Tx - Anson Jones Statue
Anson Jones statue on courthouse grounds
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
More Statues in Texas

The 1886 Jones County Courthouse

"The 1886 Jones County courthouse was practically identical to the 1886 Reeves County courthouse. " - Terry Jeanson

Anson TX downtown 1940s
Anson in 1908
Photo courtesy Dan Whatley Collection
See Anson, Texas

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