147 of 254 Lamb County Courthouse, Littlefield, Texas. County Population: 13,977
Lamb County, Texas
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"Lamb County was established by the Texas legislature in 1876 from lands previously assigned to Bexar County. Ranching arrived in the area when the huge XIT Ranch, occupying 3,050,000 acres of land, was established in 1885. Most of the eastern and northern part of the county was XIT land.
"Only four people lived in the county in 1890, and as late as 1900 there were only thirty-one people there. "In the early 1900s the large ranches began to break up, and farmers began to establish themselves. .... on June 20, 1908, Lamb County was organized with Olton as the seat of government. "The county was named for George A. Lamb. "Immigration into the area was encouraged in the early 1910s when the Santa Fe Railroad made plans to build a branch line from Lubbock to Clovis, New Mexico, bisecting Lamb County from southeast to northwest and crossing George Littlefield's LFD Ranch. Littlefield cooperated with the railroad in bringing the line to fruition and helped to establish a townsite, ultimately known as Littlefield, on the railroad. "After three attempts to change the county seat from Olton to Littlefield (in 1929, 1932, and 1937), Littlefield residents finally succeeded in 1946." Donald R. Abbe, "LAMB COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Lamb County and photographed the courthouse in Littlefield on Friday, May 18, 2012. Lamb County is one of seven Texas counties I've lived in.
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Lamb County Courthouse 1922 (Olton)
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Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Lamb County Courthouse 1954
James E. Atcheson (b. 1/26/1906) and Atmar L. Atkinson (b. 1/22/1914) began their firm in 1949 in Lubbock. This was their only courthouse.
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Is this sign truly necessary?
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Littlefield's street grid is oriented on orthogonal blocks bearing north-south and east-west. However, the railroad that gave the town its reason for being passes through town on a northwest-southeast diagonal. The courthouse square is located several blocks to the southwest of the railroad, on a diagonal street grid that interrupts the surrounding orthogonal grid. It's worth viewing the town on Google or Bing maps to appreciate how downtown Littlefield and the Lamb County courthouse square are oriented perpendicular to the railroad. The courthouse faces northeast, along Phelps Avenue, which terminates at the railroad station, linking the two "centers" of this county seat. For more information, I recommend Robert Veselka's book "The Courthouse Square in Texas," available from The University of Texas Press.
The front of the courthouse seen from Phelps Avenue
The front of the courthouse faces northeast
An addition on the south corner of the courthouse houses an elevator
The back of the courthouse faces southwest. The district courtroom is located on the second floor, in the center of the building
Looking southwest from the courthouse, along Phelps Avenue, which terminates a few blocks from the square, at a strip shopping center
The first floor courthouse lobby, facing northeast. The building plaque is on the left wall
The view of Phelps Avenue from the front doors of the courthouse. Littlefield City Hall is on the left; the County Library is on the right
The County Library seen from E. 6th Street
Lamb County Library
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Littlefield City Offices
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Very nice!
Delightful concrete canopies on Phelps Avenue
Littlefield City Hall, 1930, is now the police station
The fake Owl isn't fooling this pigeon!
My family lived in the small town of Earth, in north Lamb County, in 1962-64