133 of 254  Rusk County Courthouse, Henderson, Texas.  County Population:  53,988

Rusk County, Texas

"Although the area was part of the Department of Nacogdoches, the Spanish never built any permanent settlements in it, and today very little Spanish or Mexican influence can be seen in the county except for the names of a few streams. The first Anglo-American settlers came into Rusk County as early as 1829.
"By 1834 white settlers began to arrive in large numbers; between May 2 and November 23, 1834, the Mexican government issued forty-three land grants in the area, the majority of them to recent American immigrants.
"After Texas independence the territory was originally a part of Nacogdoches County, but upon an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, Rusk County was formed on January 16, 1843, and was named for Thomas Jefferson Rusk, who had been secretary of war under President Sam Houston. The county seat was established as near the center of the county as possible by the five commissioners appointed to acquire land for the purpose.
"Gen. James Smith donated the original townsite of 65.5 acres, and he later sold 69.5 acres more to the town. Later, William B. Ochiltree donated five acres north of the town square and in the deed named the town for his friend James Pinckney Henderson [first governor of the state of Texas]."
Virginia Knapp and Megan Biesele, "RUSK COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online

I visited Rusk County and photographed the courthouse in Henderson on Saturday, March 24, 2012. 

West bound on E Main Street

Approaching the historic district

Henderson has a large, historic downtown. Unfortunately, the Rusk County courthouse is not in the center of downtown.

Rusk County Courthouse 1928

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Photo, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

The courthouse faces east, onto N Main Street

The statue is of Thomas Jefferson Rusk

Thomas Jefferson Rusk faces the east

The Rusk County Jail, behind the courthouse, has been replaced by a new Justice Center

The Rusk County Justice Center, on W Charlevoix Street, just north of the courthouse

The corner of Main and Main in downtown Henderson. Actually, the intersection of N Main, E Main, S Main and W Main Streets