111 Sabine County

111 of 254: Sabine County Courthouse, Hemphill, Texas. County Population: 10,834

Sabine County, Texas

"Sabine County was named for the Sabine River [which forms the eastern border of the county and the state of Texas].
"Before 1832 the area was part of the Municipality of Nacogdoches. It belonged to the Municipality of San Augustine from 1832 until 1835, when it became the Municipality of Sabine. A ferry across the Sabine River was established in the northern part of what became Sabine County. This ferry is thought to have been called El Paso de Chalán until 1796, when Michael Crow established Crow's Ferry. It operated until 1812, when it was purchased by James Gaines and renamed Gaines Ferry.
"On December 14, 1837, Sabine County was organized and its boundaries defined. The county boundaries have remained unchanged since its establishment;
"Milam was the original county seat, but as early as 1850 settlers began to
petition the government for a more centrally located county seat ...
"On November 11, 1858, after a survey found Milam to be six and three-quarter miles from the center of the county, ... a survey by E. P. Beddoe ... located the center of the county. The new town was named Hemphill, in honor of John Hemphill, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, who at the time was serving as a United States senator.
Matthew Hayes Nall, "SABINE COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online

I visited Sabine County and photographed the courthouse in Hemphill on August 21, 2011, a Sunday.

Texas 21 in Sabine County, enroute to San Augustine County

Sabine County Courthouse 1906

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

Alonzo N. Dawson was the architect of this classicaly inspired building. The courthouse has been remodeled several times; following a fire in 1909 and in 1938, under a grant from the Works Progress Administration,which included the removal of a dome from the roof.