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The
1940 Palo Pinto County courthouse on US 180
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2006 |
The
Present Palo Pinto CourthouseDate
- 1940
Architect - Preston M. Geren and M. A. Howell
Style - Texas Renaissance
Material - Sandstone from the 1882 courthouse
Though not grandiose like
the Romanesque courthouses built in the 1890s, this 1940
building has its own understated charm. It is an excellent example of a
pre-War rural courthouse. With its brass doorknobs and eagle-encrusted light fixtures,
if one was to imagine a young lawyer in a seersucker suit named Huey Piece Long
defending an overall-clad client, then one would be horribly wrong. Huey Long
never set foot in Palo Pinto County and besides he was killed before this courthouse
was built. |
Courthouses
of Palo Pinto County Historical Marker on US 180
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2006 |
Historical
Marker Text Courthouses
of Palo Pinto CountyPalo
Pinto County was created in 1856 and named for a creek south of here that was
perhaps named by Spanish explorers of the Brazos River Valley. The county seat
of 320 acres was surveyed at its geographical center and was originally named
Golconda.
A court session in 1857 called for the first courthouse to be
built of wood frame construction, with two doors and three windows. The contract
was awarded to a bid of $300. Shortly after, in 1859, the town name was changed
to Palo Pinto.
In 1882, just after the Texas Legislature allowed counties
to issue bonds for new courthouses, a
large sandstone structure was built. It cost $35,000 and exhibited Second
Empire styling with a central clock tower. A two story sandstone annex was added
in 1906 and connected to the courthouse by an iron bridge. Sandstone for the buildings
was quarried south of the city.
In 1940 these buildings were demolished
and a new courthouse
was erected by Work Projects Administration workers. The reinforced-concrete structure
featured subtle classical detail and was clad with some of the sandstone from
the old buildings. It was completed in 1942 at a cost of $250,000.
(1986) |
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Palo
Pinto County courthouse entrance
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May, 2005 |
Palo Pinto County courthouse eagle
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson May, 2005 |
The 1940 Palo Pinto Courthouse
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
| Another
view of the 1940 Palo Pinto Courthouse
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
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The
1882 Palo Pinto County Courthouse |
The
1882 Palo Pinto County Courthouse
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT |
An
earlier view of the 1882 Palo Pinto County Courthouse
Photo courtesy THC |
|
Photo courtesy
Mike Lewis | |
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