116 of 254: Mason County Courthouse, Mason, Texas. County Population: 4,012
Mason County, Texas
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"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 and April 29, 2020.
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June 2020: Mason County was awarded a $4,140,119 grant from the state for a full restoration of the 1909 Mason County courthouse!
February 4, 2021: Mason County courthouse destroyed in a fire, set by an arsonist!
Texas Public Radio report: www.keranews.org/texas-news/2021-02-08/discussions-underway-to-rebuild-historic-mason-county-courthouse-gutted-by-fire
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
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Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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On east side of the courthouse square, looking north
This cowboy is heading east and looking south
Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT
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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
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The cornerstone is on the northeast corner of the courthouse
The clock works
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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
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The Odeon Theater on Moody Street
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Looking south on Moody Street
The Mason County Library on Post Hill Street
Historic story stone building
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Stone building at northeast corner of the square
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