128 of 254: Zapata County Courthouse, Zapata, Texas. County Population: 14,018
Zapata County, Texas
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"In 1821 the future Zapata County, along with other settlements between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, became part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
"From the Texas Revolution until the Mexican War the region was disputed territory, claimed by both Texas and Mexico. In 1839–40 Antonio Zapata and other residents joined Antonio Canales Rosillo and Jesús Cárdenas to fight for the Republic of the Rio Grande. "In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the Texas claim to the region, and the area of future Zapata County was included in Starr and Webb counties. On January 22, 1858, the legislature passed a measure establishing Zapata County, which was organized on April 26, 1858, with Bellville (later known as Carrizo and subsequently as Zapata) as the county seat." Alicia A. Garza and Christopher Long, "ZAPATA COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online "[Zapata] was relocated to higher ground upon the completion of Falcon Dam in 1953, when many acres of rich, irrigated farmland were inundated by the waters of International Falcon Reservoir. Jean Y. Fish, "ZAPATA, TX," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Zapata County and photographed the courthouse in Zapata on Thursday, October 27, 2011 and on Monday, July 28, 2014.
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The Rio Grande River in Zapata County
Zapata County Courthouse 1901
The Zapata courthouse in the rising waters of Falcon Lake. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT
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Zapata County Courthouse 1953
This modern structure was demolished.
Image courtesy THC
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Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Zapata County Courthouse 2005
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Morgan Spears Associates, Architects
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