158 of 254 Rockwall County Courthouse, Rockwall, Texas. County Population: 101,175
Rockwall County, Texas
I visited Rockwall County and photographed the courthouses in Rockwall on Thursday, June 28, 2012 and again on Sunday, August 19, 2012.
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"The National Road of the Republic of Texas was surveyed and constructed in the mid-1840s through the area that would become Rockwall County. Running northeast from the Dallas area to the Red River, the road was a major route for settlers traveling to Peters colony near the site of present-day Dallas. In 1846 the first settler, John O. Heath, received a grant from the Mercer colony and established his home on the East Fork of the Trinity River near the crossing of the Central National Road. Occasionally when the swollen waters of the Trinity River prevented crossing, some families simply settled along the east bank of the river. The towns of Heath and Rockwall were thus founded along the highway.
"Several farmers were digging a well in 1851 when they discovered a subterranean rock wall or diker that crossed the county and occasionally appeared at ground level. Although scientific analysis indicated that the wall is a natural geological formation, folk tales persist that it was built by prehistoric natives. When it was surveyed and laid out in 1854 the town of Rockwall was named for the curious rock formation. In 1836 the area was established as part of Nacogdoches County, and when Texas joined the Union in 1845, it was included in Henderson County. Kaufman County was formed in 1847, and the region now known as Rockwall County was placed in the jurisdiction of the new county. In 1873, because the county seat, Kaufman, was inconvenient for the residents of the northern panhandle, Rockwall County was formed, taking its name from the town and geological formation." Elizabeth Lee Bass, "ROCKWALL COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online Rockwall County is the smallest county in Texas at only 147 square miles.
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Rockwall County Courthouse 1892
Architect Maximilian A. Orlopp, Jr. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Maximilian Orlopp was also the architect of the nearby Dallas County courthouse. Unfortunately, his 1892 Rockwall courthouse was demolished in 1938.
Rockwall County Courthouse 1940
Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Photo courtesy TXDOT
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The now "historic" Rockwall County courthouse was designed by Wichita Falls Architects Voelcker and Dixon.
The Historic Rockwall courthouse faces south, onto E. Rusk Street
View from the courthouse entrance, looking south to commercial buildings on E. Rusk Street
Stonework on the south facade
The west doors, on N. Goliad Street
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The north doors, on E. Kaufman Street
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Mature trees shade the courthouse grounds. This is the northeast corner of the courthouse
Commerical buildings on N. San Jacinto Street, on the east side of the courthouse square
The main entrance, on the south facade
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The historic 1940 courthouse
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The cornerstone on the southwest corner
A photo in the courthouse lobby
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The south facade
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Trees prevent a full view of the historic courthouse
Rockwall County Courthouse 2011
The current courthouse on Interstate 30 is ...
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... designed for high visibility and recognition
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The front facade of the courthouse faces the northwest, onto E. Yellow Jacket Lane
The front of this neo-classical styled building
View from the front of the courthouse. The First United Methodist Church is on the right. The property on the left is undeveloped
The Rockwall County Library and the school district stadium are on the north side of the courthouse
A corner of the new courthouse with the library and stadium beyond
The north side of the courthouse
In a sunken courtyard on the north side of the courthouse is a very moving war memorial
The front "porch" of the courthouse
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Stone and brick on the east facade
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Massive columns on the east facade
The southwest corner of the building
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The building plaque in on the front porch
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The south, or back, facade of the courthouse
Rockwall County, a suburb of Dallas, is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas