090 Walker County

090 of 254: Walker County Courthouse, Huntsville, Texas. County Population: 72,295

Walker County, Texas

"In the years prior to Texas independence, the area was governed by the Municipality of Washington, which became Washington County during the Texas Revolution. In 1837 the First Congress of the Republic of Texas included the area of present Walker County in Montgomery County when that county was carved from Washington County.
"In April 1846 the First Legislature of the new state of Texas established Walker County and designated Huntsville the seat of government.
"The area was originally named for Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, who
introduced into the United States Congress the resolution for the annexation of Texas; because he was a Unionist during the Civil War, however, in 1863 the state legislature changed the honoree to Samuel H. Walker [a Texas Ranger and Mexican War veteran].
"A site for the courthouse was donated by Pleasant Gray and his wife, and Henry Sheets and his spouse provided the property for the jail. The new jail was completed in 1847, and the first courthouse a year later.
"In 1848 the county became the designated site for what became the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, which began operating in 1849.
John Leffler, "WALKER COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online
Huntsville, the county seat, is home to the headquarters of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.

I visited Walker County and photographed the courthouse in Huntsville on October 2, 2010. Walker County is one of seven Texas counties I've lived in over the years. And, no, I wasn't a guest of the state! In 1975-77 I worked for an architect in Huntsville, Dan Slater.