196 of 254 Montague County Courthouse, Montague, Texas. County Population: 19,719
Montague County, Texas
I visited Montague County and photographed the courthouse in Montague on Sunday, August 4, 2013. I understand locals pronounce the name "Mon-teg."
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"Most of Montague County's 937 square miles lies in the region known as the western Cross Timbers, in which the dominantly light colored, sandy, and loamy soils support a post oak savannah.
"The terrain of the county is level to gently rolling with broad valleys and high rolling prairies. The elevation ranges from 850 to 1,318 feet. "Organization of the area occurred twenty years after the Texas Revolution of 1836. The state legislature established the county on Christmas Eve in 1857. The following year, on August 2, 1858, the county was formally organized with its present boundaries carved from Cooke County. The new county was named for Daniel Montague, surveyor of the Fannin Land District and veteran of the Mexican War. Only three villages existed in the county at the time, and none of them was near the geographic center of the county. So an uninhabited area at the appropriate location was identified as the county seat and also named in honor of Daniel Montague. "Ironically, the one community that was not touched by the tracks of the three rail systems [that crossed the county] was the county seat. As a result, Montague was soon overshadowed by Nocona, home of the Justin Cowboy Boot Company, to the north; Saint Jo, an important farm market center, to the east; and by Bowie to the south. Bowie's growth and development as an agribusiness center prompted a call by the town's residents for the county seat to be changed to their community. An election was held in 1884 and, although Bowie received more votes than Montague, it did not collect the required two-thirds majority needed to move the county seat." David Minor, "MONTAGUE COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online |
Montague County Courthouse 1885
Damaged by a storm & demolished in 1912. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
Image courtesy courthouse history.com
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Montague County Courthouse 1913
The dome lasted until 1939, when it was heavily damaged in a storm, resulting in its removal. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT
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The south façade of the courthouse. The architect was George Burnett, who also designed the 1915 Taylor County courthouse in Abilene
The cornerstone is on the northeast corner of the building
The cornerstone is behind the emergency egress "slide" and a downspout
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The north side of the cornerstone is partially obscured
The courthouse was renovated (not restored) in 1986
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The south façade on Franklin Street
The historic county jail is on the southeast corner of the courthouse square
The southwest corner of the courthouse square, at the intersection of Highway 59 and Franklin Street
The southwest corner of the courthouse
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Another view of the southwest corner
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The view from the south steps of the courthouse, towards Franklin Street
The east façade of the courthouse, on Grand Street
A portion of the south façade, with a condensate drain line (not original)
A county courthouse annex is visible from the north steps of the courthouse
The courthouse annex was completed in 2013
The courthouse annex occupies the entire block north of the courthouse
The Montague County Law Enforcement Complex on Grand Street
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Where you have law enforcement, you have bail bonds
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An historic façade on Franklin Street.