116 of 254:  Mason County Courthouse, Mason, Texas.  County Population:  4,012

Mason County, Texas

"Mason County is located in Central Texas, just south of the geographic center of the state. The county covers an area of 935 square miles in the region commonly called the Hill Country; its elevation ranges from 1,300 to 2,200 feet.
"In the mid-1840s the overflow of German colonists from Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, under the direction of John O. Meusebach, began to move into what became Mason County, risking the dangers of the wilder-ness for the opportunity to own larger tracts of land. The establishment of Fort Mason in 1851 and the resulting greater protection against Indian attacks encouraged more rapid settlement of the county by Germans, Irish, and English.  Mason County was originally part of the Bexar District. When Gillespie County was marked off in 1848, most of the future Mason County was included within its boundaries. On January 22, 1858, Mason County, named for Fort Mason, was established by an act of the state legislature. George W. Todd organized the county on August 2 of that year. The act required that a county seat be established within two miles of the fort, and on May 20, 1861, voters chose the town of Mason for this purpose. The original boundaries of the county have remained virtually unchanged over the years.
"The county was finally able to build a courthouse and jail in Mason in 1869."
Alice J. Rhoades, "MASON COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online 

I visited Mason County and photographed the courthouse in Mason on Sunday, September 4, 2011. 

Aerial view of Mason, Texas. Aboard Southwest Airlines on March 12, 2012. The courthouse square is visible in the center of town

Mason County Courthouse 1878

Carr & Daniels, Architects. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Mason County Courthouse 1909

Edward Columbus Hosford, Architect. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

On east side of the courthouse square, looking north

This cowboy is heading east and looking south

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

Historic buildings line the north side of the courthouse square

The north facade of the courthouse

View from the north door of the courthouse, looking up Broad Street

The north side is the front of the courthouse

The clock works

The south doors to the courthouse

The south facade of the courthouse, on Westmoreland Street

The south side of the courthouse

This building is located on the southwest side of the courthouse square, facing Westmoreland Street

The county jail on the the corner of Westmoreland and Post Hill Streets, across from the courthouse

View of the southwest corner of the courthouse square, looking towards Moody Street

City Hall on Moody Street

The Odeon Theater on Moody Street

The Mason County Library on Post Hill Street

Historic story stone building

Stone building at northeast corner of the square

Looking south on Moody Street