143 of 254 Freestone County Courthouse, Fairfield, Texas.  County Population:  19,816

Freestone County, Texas

"During the early years of the republic [of Texas] period the area that is now Freestone County was considered Indian land and therefore dangerous; very few whites ventured into it until the Indian Treaty of 1843. So many settlers moved into the region in the years immediately following the treaty, however, that by 1846 every county now bordering Freestone County had been organized. One of these, Limestone County, included the land that would later comprise Freestone County.
"By 1846 a fairly large settlement, later called Troy, had been established along the west side of the Trinity River near Pine Bluff, and in 1848 a few isolated settlers appeared in the southern and central sections of what is now Freestone County.
"Since the population of Limestone County was rapidly expanding, in 1850 the Texas legislature divided it to form Freestone County. By 1851 the county had been organized; the town of Mound Prairie, in the center of the county, was chosen to be the county seat, and its name was changed to Fairfield."
John Leffler, "FREESTONE COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online 

I visited Freestone County and photographed the courthouse in Fairfield on Saturday, April 28, 2012 and then inadvertently erased all of my photographs, so, I visited Fairfield again on Sunday, April 29, 2012. 

Freestone County Courthouse 1919

Photo, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

The courthouse cornerstone identifies the architect as W.R. Kaufman and the contractor as W.M. Rice

"W[illiam] R[aymond] Kaufman (1881-1948) was the son of Amarillo architect Davis Paul Kaufman  (1852-1915). Working together in the firm of D.P. Kaufman & Son, they  designed many buildings in the Texas Panhandle and nearby New Mexico, including  the Elks Club, Old Grand Theater, St. Mary’s Academy (1913-14), and Lowrey’s  Academy, all in Amarillo, the Union County Courthouse (1909) in Clayton, NM, and  the Cochran County Courthouse (1926, re-modeled 1968) in Morton, TX. Kaufman also  designed Elizabeth Nixon Jr. High School, in Amarillo, and the Sam Houston  Elementary School (1930) in Pampa. In 1939, Kaufman moved to San Antonio to work in  the Army Engineer’s office at Fort Sam Houston. After his death in San Antonio  in 1948, Kaufman’s son, W.R. Kaufman, Jr., an architect trained at Texas Tech,  took over the family firm."   From Gray County [TX] historical website
This is the extent of the information I've found to date on the architect W.R. Kaufman.  I must presume the man described above is also the architect of the Freestone County courthouse.

The courthouse occupies a large square in the center of Fairfield. The front faces south, onto Commerce Street, US Highway 84

The facade is capped by a pediment with an ornate "F" for Freestone

The southeast corner of the courthouse, with a side view of the east porch

The front doors, behind four Ionic columns

The view from the front steps, looking south, towards Commerce Street

The west facade with its porch. The left column is missing its capital. The doors on the west and east facades are at the basement level

The view through the front doors of the courthouse

The 1975 county jail and sheriff's department occupies the northeast corner of the square, on Keechi Street

The north facade of the courthouse. The jail is on the left. On the right is a courthouse annex

The courthouse annex occupies the northwest corner of the square and faces Main Street

The view from the north steps of the courthouse towards Main Street. That's quite an elaborate weatherhead atop the utility pole

Another courthouse annex, dating from1966, on Main Street, north of the square

Buildings on Mount Street, forming the west edge of the courthouse square