118 of 254:  Travis County Courthouse, Austin, Texas.  County Population:  1,250,884, mostly students

Travis County, Texas

"Travis County comprises 989 square miles on the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau and is divided by the Balcones Escarpment.
"In 1837 or 1838 President Mirabeau B. Lamar was on a buffalo hunt in the [Austin] area and commented on its possibilities as a site for the permanent capital.
"When the Congress of the Republic of Texas chose Waterloo as the site of the new capital, opponents were quick to point out the dis-advantages: the site's proximity to the frontier, the lack of timber, the
poor soil, and the threat of Indian raids. In spite of this opposition, however,
the new capital—renamed Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin—was approved on January 19, 1840. A few days later the Congress established Travis County, naming it in honor of William Barret Travis and making Austin its county seat.
"The initial boundaries of Travis County included roughly 40,000 square miles. Counties that were later carved from Travis County include Callahan (1858), Coleman (1858), Comal (1846), Gillespie (1848), Hays (1848), Burnet (1852), Brown (1856), Lampasas (1856), Eastland (1858), Runnels (1858), and Taylor (1858).
"The first legislature of the new state convened in Austin in February 1846."
Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl, "TRAVIS COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online 

I visited Travis County and photographed the courthouse on Sunday, September 4, 2011 and Thursday, October 18, 2012.

View north on Congress Ave, towards downtown Austin

No, this isn't the Travis County courthouse; it's the Texas capital

Travis County Courthouse 1876

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Photograph courtesy THC

Jacob  E. Larmour, of Larmour & Wheelock, was the architect.  The building was converted to state offices in 1931 and demolished in 1964.

Travis County Courthouse 1930

Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Page Brothers were the architects for this massive moderne courthouse.  Significant additions to the building were constructed in 1959 and 1962.

The Guadalupe Street facade, with the 1959 addition on the right, faces east

The courthouse doors on the east facade

The view from the east facade is less than inspiring, although there's a view of the backside of the Governor's mansion at the end of the alley

The newly repaired and restored Governor's mansion with the Governor's dog, and the Travis County courthouse in the background

The south facade, an addition, is on W. 10th Street

The Travis County courthouse complex, viewed from the northeast

The south facade of the original courthouse, albeit with many additions and alterations

The newer Travis County Justice Center is on the block south of the original courthouse

The Colorado River, dammed to form Town Lake. The tower on the horizon at the right is St. Edward's University

The University of Texas: the Tower on the left and the Football Stadium on the right

After 15 years of plans, proposals and procrastination, Travis County’s vision for a new 14-story civil courthouse in downtown Austin will go before the voters in November [2015].

The county commissioners on Tuesday voted 5-0 to place a $287 million bond election on the November ballot for the courthouse, which would be built on the block south of Republic Square at Fourth and Guadalupe streets. It would free up space at the aging Heman Sweatt Travis County Courthouse at 10th and Guadalupe, which county officials say is dilapidated and overcrowded.

​The county in 2010 purchased the highly desirable block where the courthouse is planned from the Austin Museum of Art for $22 million. Currently a parking lot, it is one of the last undeveloped blocks in downtown Austin not subject to height restrictions from the Capitol View Corridor program. It also happens to be the location of the original Travis County courthouse built in 1855.