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26 November 2006, 10:48 PM
Posted on Sun, Nov. 26, 2006
Book chronicles historic courthouses in Texas
MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
WHARTON, Texas - When Wharton County Judge W.J. Croom and his commissioners announced plans to build a new courthouse, rancher Able "Shanghai" Pierce raised such a ruckus the governor had to call in the Texas Rangers to keep the peace.
When Pierce later got an injunction to save the old wooden courthouse, the judge and commissioners cut a hole in the roof in an effort to flee and avoid being served, but the judge got stuck in the hole.
Everything ended peacefully in the 1888 squabble. The judge was unstuck. A settlement was reached. A new courthouse was built the following year.
Almost 120 years later, that "new" courthouse is nearing completion of its restoration and should be rededicated early in 2007, the latest in a series of restorations of historic Texas courthouses.
The Wharton County Courthouse and its tale are among 100 profiled in "Historic Texas Courthouses," a 276-page coffee table book written by attorney and former Houston U.S. Rep. Michael Andrews and illustrated by architectural photographers Paul Hester and Lisa Hardaway.
"I've always loved Texas history and have been fascinated by these great old buildings," said Andrews, 62, whose congressional career ended in 1994.
"Traveling around the state, I would see these buildings and always be curious about how did that get there and what happened," he said. "The more I looked into it, I found very little has been written about these individual counties, the architects who designed the buildings and about the buildings themselves, what these structures really meant in early Texas."
What became apparent to Andrews was that for Texans up until about World War II, the county government had a much larger impact on a family's life. The courthouse for a society far less transitory became the repository for someone's life, from birth certificate, marriage license, other legal documents and finally to death certificate.
"It was more than a structure," Andrews said. "But as a structure, the courthouse became the predominant symbol of a county's life, of its culture, of its pride."
As a result, Texas and its 254 counties wound up with some magnificent architecture.
England-born architect Alfred Giles, whose style is marked by symmetry and art, is credited as the designer of the famous landmark courthouse in Presidio County, where cattle outnumbered residents almost 1,000-1 in 1885 when Marfa was selected county seat by a vote of 392-302. The courthouse, described by Andrews as "one of the state's most prized," dominated the landscape.
"There was no town, just the courthouse," Andrews said. "The people there spent their resources to build this majestic courthouse in the middle of nowhere. It was the way people would find their way across the desert - the sight of this courthouse."
In 1910, a celebration was held at the courthouse to mark the arrival of electricity. And a dance was held in the courtroom.
Other Giles courthouses are in Laredo and Falfurrias.
"Especially toward end of 19th century, when wealth started coming to different counties in Texas, county leaders would compete with each other to see what kind of majestic courthouses they can build," said Andrews, who describes it as the Golden Age for Texas courthouses.
"At no other time in Texas history has public architecture so clearly defined an era," Andrews writes. "Many of the elegant and monumental buildings that remain still dominate and symbolize their communities today, just as they did when their doors first opened."
There's plenty of history associated with the courthouses, as Andrews details.
In 1948, a young Texas congressman named Lyndon Johnson began his successful U.S. Senate campaign in front of the Shelby County Courthouse. In 1922, Nathan Lee became the last convicted killer in the state to be legally hanged, in front of the Brazoria County Courthouse for killing a local farmer.
Stan Graves, director of the Texas Historical Commission's courthouse preservation program, noted the courthouses were the center of public life.
"All across Texas, it's kind of like the white churches of New England," he said. "That's our version here in Texas - the county courthouse, the building most little towns focus on."
With the assistance of the decade-old program, 35 courthouses have been restored. Another 75 have completed their master plans, the first step in the process, and 15 are ready for construction. More than 200 are listed as historic, including some that have been abandoned or replaced.
Wharton's courthouse, about 75 miles southwest of Houston, had frayed electrical wiring and old natural gas lines, making it a fire risk. And it had weak walls and foundation that threatened its stability.
As part of the three-year restoration, stucco applied years ago was scaled off. Building additions, including an entire floor that split the original two-story courtroom, have been removed. And a cupola lost generations ago has been restored, including installation of four clocks, one for each side of the cupola, powered by an ornate series of gears and pulleys and wires and weights originally built in 1889.
At least once a week, Paul Shannon, the county maintenance supervisor, climbs into the clock tower, slips about a foot-long wrench with a wood handle over the tip of a matching metal bar and hand cranks the clock. He also makes sure the time is correct, so a large bell echoes across the coastal prairie at exactly the top of every hour.
"If I'm a few seconds off, I can stop time from happening in Wharton County," he laughs. "I am the timekeeper."
For Andrews, people like Shannon illustrate the importance of the courthouses.
"What's really special about these buildings, unlike any other historic sites in Texas, is that the history is continuing," Andrews said. "These buildings still serve the purpose today that they did at the time they were built."
ON THE NET
Historic Texas Courthouses publisher web site http://brightskypress.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?ScreenPROD&Store_CodeBSPOS
&Product_CodeCOURTH
Book chronicles historic courthouses in Texas
MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
WHARTON, Texas - When Wharton County Judge W.J. Croom and his commissioners announced plans to build a new courthouse, rancher Able "Shanghai" Pierce raised such a ruckus the governor had to call in the Texas Rangers to keep the peace.
When Pierce later got an injunction to save the old wooden courthouse, the judge and commissioners cut a hole in the roof in an effort to flee and avoid being served, but the judge got stuck in the hole.
Everything ended peacefully in the 1888 squabble. The judge was unstuck. A settlement was reached. A new courthouse was built the following year.
Almost 120 years later, that "new" courthouse is nearing completion of its restoration and should be rededicated early in 2007, the latest in a series of restorations of historic Texas courthouses.
The Wharton County Courthouse and its tale are among 100 profiled in "Historic Texas Courthouses," a 276-page coffee table book written by attorney and former Houston U.S. Rep. Michael Andrews and illustrated by architectural photographers Paul Hester and Lisa Hardaway.
"I've always loved Texas history and have been fascinated by these great old buildings," said Andrews, 62, whose congressional career ended in 1994.
"Traveling around the state, I would see these buildings and always be curious about how did that get there and what happened," he said. "The more I looked into it, I found very little has been written about these individual counties, the architects who designed the buildings and about the buildings themselves, what these structures really meant in early Texas."
What became apparent to Andrews was that for Texans up until about World War II, the county government had a much larger impact on a family's life. The courthouse for a society far less transitory became the repository for someone's life, from birth certificate, marriage license, other legal documents and finally to death certificate.
"It was more than a structure," Andrews said. "But as a structure, the courthouse became the predominant symbol of a county's life, of its culture, of its pride."
As a result, Texas and its 254 counties wound up with some magnificent architecture.
England-born architect Alfred Giles, whose style is marked by symmetry and art, is credited as the designer of the famous landmark courthouse in Presidio County, where cattle outnumbered residents almost 1,000-1 in 1885 when Marfa was selected county seat by a vote of 392-302. The courthouse, described by Andrews as "one of the state's most prized," dominated the landscape.
"There was no town, just the courthouse," Andrews said. "The people there spent their resources to build this majestic courthouse in the middle of nowhere. It was the way people would find their way across the desert - the sight of this courthouse."
In 1910, a celebration was held at the courthouse to mark the arrival of electricity. And a dance was held in the courtroom.
Other Giles courthouses are in Laredo and Falfurrias.
"Especially toward end of 19th century, when wealth started coming to different counties in Texas, county leaders would compete with each other to see what kind of majestic courthouses they can build," said Andrews, who describes it as the Golden Age for Texas courthouses.
"At no other time in Texas history has public architecture so clearly defined an era," Andrews writes. "Many of the elegant and monumental buildings that remain still dominate and symbolize their communities today, just as they did when their doors first opened."
There's plenty of history associated with the courthouses, as Andrews details.
In 1948, a young Texas congressman named Lyndon Johnson began his successful U.S. Senate campaign in front of the Shelby County Courthouse. In 1922, Nathan Lee became the last convicted killer in the state to be legally hanged, in front of the Brazoria County Courthouse for killing a local farmer.
Stan Graves, director of the Texas Historical Commission's courthouse preservation program, noted the courthouses were the center of public life.
"All across Texas, it's kind of like the white churches of New England," he said. "That's our version here in Texas - the county courthouse, the building most little towns focus on."
With the assistance of the decade-old program, 35 courthouses have been restored. Another 75 have completed their master plans, the first step in the process, and 15 are ready for construction. More than 200 are listed as historic, including some that have been abandoned or replaced.
Wharton's courthouse, about 75 miles southwest of Houston, had frayed electrical wiring and old natural gas lines, making it a fire risk. And it had weak walls and foundation that threatened its stability.
As part of the three-year restoration, stucco applied years ago was scaled off. Building additions, including an entire floor that split the original two-story courtroom, have been removed. And a cupola lost generations ago has been restored, including installation of four clocks, one for each side of the cupola, powered by an ornate series of gears and pulleys and wires and weights originally built in 1889.
At least once a week, Paul Shannon, the county maintenance supervisor, climbs into the clock tower, slips about a foot-long wrench with a wood handle over the tip of a matching metal bar and hand cranks the clock. He also makes sure the time is correct, so a large bell echoes across the coastal prairie at exactly the top of every hour.
"If I'm a few seconds off, I can stop time from happening in Wharton County," he laughs. "I am the timekeeper."
For Andrews, people like Shannon illustrate the importance of the courthouses.
"What's really special about these buildings, unlike any other historic sites in Texas, is that the history is continuing," Andrews said. "These buildings still serve the purpose today that they did at the time they were built."
ON THE NET
Historic Texas Courthouses publisher web site http://brightskypress.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?ScreenPROD&Store_CodeBSPOS
&Product_CodeCOURTH