Welcome to 254 Texas Courthouses
This website is dedicated to a Texas architect and photographer I've long admired and strive to emulate, Richard Payne, here and here.
What's new: #196 Montague County, Texas and extensively updated #66 Kent County and #103 Comanche County.
Original Irion County courthouse, Sherwood, Texas.
There are 254 counties in Texas: Anderson to Zavala.
According to the Texas Historical Commission, "Texas has more historic courthouses that any other state. Today more than 234 courthouses still stand that are least 50 years old."
I intend to visit all of them, photograph their courthouse(s), and whatever else is of interest to me, and then share my findings with others. This is not just a collection of pretty pictures, by the way. I will post the good, the bad, and the mediocre.
I'm an architect. I live and work in Houston.
Buildings and their surroundings interest me. I'm also intrigued by Texas: its geography, history, and cultures. My interest in visiting all 254 county courthouses started with a display in St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston. The display features a tribute to Dr. Mavis Kelsey, one of the pioneers of Texas courthouse photography. I was fascinated by Dr. Kelsey's story of casually visiting the county seats of east Texas and then, before long, taking on the entire state. His book, The Courthouses of Texas, would become my guide. (In the spring of 2012 I had the honor of meeting Dr. Kelsey, now 100 years old, at his home in Houston. It was a pleasure to sit and talk with him about Texas and his memories of counties and courthouses. Of course, he autographed my copy of The Courthouses of Texas, too!) UPDATE: Dr. Mavis Kelsey, 101, died on November 12, 2013, at his home in Houston.
Following that, in April 2007 I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by my friends, Lisa Hardaway and her partner/husband, Paul Hester, about their photographs for the book Historic Texas Courthouses. They inspired me, to say the least. I was particularly taken by their photos of the original Irion County courthouse in Sherwood, Texas. I had never heard of Irion County, let alone Sherwood.
But, my quest really began with the influence of my uncle, Clark Brannan, of Abilene. He and I share a love of Texas history and travel. And railroads, but that's another website.
In 2007, a month after acquiring my copy of Historic Texas Courthouses, Clark took me to Gail, in Borden County. There we stopped to admire the Borden County courthouse and jail, set in the proverbial middle of nowhere in west Texas in a rugged landscape. I photographed the buildings and what little there was to the "town" of Gail, the largest community in this county of about 600 population, set in a rugged western landscape.
I was hooked.
However, it took a couple of years for my case of the Texas courthouse "infection" to take root.
Two years later, in May of 2009 Clark and I set off on a day-long trip south and west of his home in Abilene. One of my goals on this beautiful spring day was to visit Sherwood. And so we did. Along with Ballinger, San Angelo, Mertzon, Sterling City and Robert Lee. All county seats, by the way.
At that point there was no holding me back. I had to see them all. All 254 of them.
Actually, I've learned there are more than 254 courthouses in Texas. There are "only" 254 counties, but several have more than one courthouse. Good for me!
This website will document my travels, my photos, and my impressions of the Texas courthouse and its context. As of August 4, 2013, I've visited 196 counties. At this point I've been from "A" to "Z"; from Anderson County to Zavala County.
As Willie Nelson sings: "On the road again, goin' places that I've never been, seein' things that I may never see again. On the road again."
Leonard G. Lane, Jr.
leonardlane@gmail.com
(Unless noted otherwise, all photographs on this website are the property of and copyrighted by Leonard G. Lane, Jr.)
According to the Texas Historical Commission, "Texas has more historic courthouses that any other state. Today more than 234 courthouses still stand that are least 50 years old."
I intend to visit all of them, photograph their courthouse(s), and whatever else is of interest to me, and then share my findings with others. This is not just a collection of pretty pictures, by the way. I will post the good, the bad, and the mediocre.
I'm an architect. I live and work in Houston.
Buildings and their surroundings interest me. I'm also intrigued by Texas: its geography, history, and cultures. My interest in visiting all 254 county courthouses started with a display in St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston. The display features a tribute to Dr. Mavis Kelsey, one of the pioneers of Texas courthouse photography. I was fascinated by Dr. Kelsey's story of casually visiting the county seats of east Texas and then, before long, taking on the entire state. His book, The Courthouses of Texas, would become my guide. (In the spring of 2012 I had the honor of meeting Dr. Kelsey, now 100 years old, at his home in Houston. It was a pleasure to sit and talk with him about Texas and his memories of counties and courthouses. Of course, he autographed my copy of The Courthouses of Texas, too!) UPDATE: Dr. Mavis Kelsey, 101, died on November 12, 2013, at his home in Houston.
Following that, in April 2007 I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by my friends, Lisa Hardaway and her partner/husband, Paul Hester, about their photographs for the book Historic Texas Courthouses. They inspired me, to say the least. I was particularly taken by their photos of the original Irion County courthouse in Sherwood, Texas. I had never heard of Irion County, let alone Sherwood.
But, my quest really began with the influence of my uncle, Clark Brannan, of Abilene. He and I share a love of Texas history and travel. And railroads, but that's another website.
In 2007, a month after acquiring my copy of Historic Texas Courthouses, Clark took me to Gail, in Borden County. There we stopped to admire the Borden County courthouse and jail, set in the proverbial middle of nowhere in west Texas in a rugged landscape. I photographed the buildings and what little there was to the "town" of Gail, the largest community in this county of about 600 population, set in a rugged western landscape.
I was hooked.
However, it took a couple of years for my case of the Texas courthouse "infection" to take root.
Two years later, in May of 2009 Clark and I set off on a day-long trip south and west of his home in Abilene. One of my goals on this beautiful spring day was to visit Sherwood. And so we did. Along with Ballinger, San Angelo, Mertzon, Sterling City and Robert Lee. All county seats, by the way.
At that point there was no holding me back. I had to see them all. All 254 of them.
Actually, I've learned there are more than 254 courthouses in Texas. There are "only" 254 counties, but several have more than one courthouse. Good for me!
This website will document my travels, my photos, and my impressions of the Texas courthouse and its context. As of August 4, 2013, I've visited 196 counties. At this point I've been from "A" to "Z"; from Anderson County to Zavala County.
As Willie Nelson sings: "On the road again, goin' places that I've never been, seein' things that I may never see again. On the road again."
Leonard G. Lane, Jr.
leonardlane@gmail.com
(Unless noted otherwise, all photographs on this website are the property of and copyrighted by Leonard G. Lane, Jr.)
The Texas courthouse at mid-twentieth century: Kent County, Jayton, Texas.
