053 of 254:  Burleson County Courthouse, Caldwell, Texas.  County Population:  17,187

Burleson County, Texas

"Burleson County covers 668 square miles in the Post Oak Belt region of Texas. Most of its area features undulating to hilly terrain except for the broad alluvial valley along its eastern border, covering nearly one-fourth of the county's surface, which is nearly level.
"The entire county lies within the drainage basin of the Brazos River, which marks its eastern border.
"Anglo-American settlement within the bounds of the future Burleson County began some time after the founding of Stephen F. Austin's first colony in the early 1820s and proceeded very slowly.
"Growth of the area accelerated after the establishment of the Republic
of Texas.
"A new townsite, soon known as Caldwell, was platted in 1840 by George
B. Erath. Finally, on March 24, 1846, the state's First Legislature established Burleson County, named for Gen. Edward Burleson, and designated Caldwell the county seat. The county acquired its present boundaries in 1874, when its western reaches beyond East Yegua Creek were given to the new Lee County, thus reducing Burleson County by some 31 percent."
Charles Christopher Jackson, "BURLESON COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online

I visited Burleson County and photographed the courthouse in Caldwell on July 24, 2010 and on January 28, 2012.

Burleson County Courthouse 1927

Burleson County courthouse, circa 1939, photo courtesy TXDOT.

Designed by J.M. Glover of Houston in a classical revival style.

On the floor of the main lobby, located on the second floor of the courthouse.

The front facade faces east.

Windows that still open!

The south facade. The ground floor entrances are on the north and south sides.

The view from the front of the courthouse.

A painting in the main lobby: Suzanne Scheuer, 1939.

The courtroom has been "updated" and bears no resemblance to the 1927 original.

First Methodist Church. 1927.

A late 19th century house. The Reeves-Womack House was part of the earliest phase of residential development southwest of the courthouse square in Caldwell. A finely crafted example of mail order design, the house represents an era when plans were marketed through catalogs released by many architects nationwide.

The 1891 Thomas, Jr. and Mary Kraitchar House is a 1-½ story wood frame building on East Buck Street, just east of the courthouse square in downtown Caldwell, Texas.