173 of 254 Dawson County Courthouse, Lamesa, Texas. County Population: 13,833
Dawson County, Texas
|
"Dawson County (D-9) lies on the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado on the southern High Plains.
"The county comprises 902 square miles of rolling prairie, broken on the east [by the edge of the Llano Estacado]. "The area was the summer home of Comanches and Kiowas, who moved from waterhole to waterhole in a region that white men suppose waterless. "Buffalo hunters, more than soldiers, were probably responsible for driving the Indians from the area. A surveying party for Texas and Pacific Railway lands in 1875 reported the presence of thousands of buffalo, and hunters moved in. As cattlemen learned that the grass on the Plains would produce fat cattle, ranchmen moved from the Lower Plains south of the Caprock to the new lands. "Dawson County, named for Nicholas Mosby Dawson, [hero of the Texas Revolution,] had been formed on August 21, 1876, but was attached to Howard County for judicial purposes until February 13, 1905, when separate organization was authorized. Dawson County's first election to choose officials and select the county seat was held on March 20, 1905. The contesting towns, Lamesa and Chicago, were only two miles apart. Lamesa won by five votes, but a movement was already afoot to consolidate the towns and all businesses and residences in Chicago were moved into Lamesa." Leona M. Gelin and Mark Odintz, "DAWSON COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Dawson County and photographed the courthouse in Lamesa on Sunday, July 29, 2012. |
Dawson County is located on the Llano Estacado, or Caprock, a highly cultivated area in the panhandle of Texas
Dawson County Courthouse 1905
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
Dawson County Courthouse 1916
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
Dawson County Courthouse 1952
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
|
Dawson County's first courthouse, a 2-story frame building, was soon replaced (in 1916) by an imposing brick structure designed by architect Marshall Robert Sanguinet, of the Fort Worth firm Sanguinet & Staats.
The bilaterally symmetrical, neo-classical design was a "generic" traditional courthouse. In fact, in 1922 Sanguinet & Staats recycled the design for the Gaines County courthouse, west of Dawson County. In 1952 the architectural firm of Allen & Allen designed a large addition to the south side of the 1916 courthouse and altered the existing historic building, stripping it of classical elements and creating new porches on the west, north and east facades. This is the current courthouse. 
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy of TXDOT
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
|
View of the courthouse square from the southeast, at the corner of S. 1st and S. Main Streets
The east facade of the courthouse. The 1952 addition is visible on the left
Three murals were added to the east, south and west entrances in 2005
The west mural
The south mural
The south mural is on the 1952 addition to the 1916 courthouse
Stairs on the east facade of the 1916 courthouse
S. Main Street on the east side of the courthouse square
N. 1st Street on the north side of the courthouse square
The north facade of the 1916 courthouse was the front of the building. Following the 1952 alterations, this entrance was closed and now looks like this!
The 1916 cornerstone
View of the courthouse square from the corner of N. 1st and Austin Ave
This pavilion is seen in photos of the 1916 courthouse. It appears to have been a speaker's platform and a covered meeting place on the square. It is now enclosed
The shell of an abandoned building on the west side of the square has been converted to a public space
The former Chevrolet dealership is now an automobile museum
The descent from the Caprock on US 180 in eastern Dawson County