219 of 254 Young County Courthouse, Graham, Texas. County Population: 18,550
Young County, Texas
"[Young County] covers 919 square miles of hilly, broken country with elevations from 1,000 to 1,300 feet above sea level. The area is drained by Lake Graham, near the center of the county, and by the Brazos River, which forms Possum Kingdom Lake in the southeastern part of the county.
"The county was included in the Peters colony, a Mexican land grant made in 1841. Though the settlement terms of the grant were loosely fulfilled eventually by the Texas Emigration and Land Company, the Young County portion of the grant remained unsettled until the 1850s.
"Young County was established by the Texas legislature in 1856 from lands formerly assigned to Bosque and Fannin counties and was attached to Wise County for judicial purposes until it was organized later that same year. The town of Belknap was chosen as the county seat. The county was named for Col. William C. Young. By 1864, according to county tax records, there were only thirty-one slaves. In 1865 the county's government was dissolved, and the area was attached to neighboring Jack County for administrative purposes. The county was reorganized in 1874, and the county records were brought back from Jacksboro. This time the new town of Graham, platted in 1873, was chosen as the county seat."
John Leffler, "YOUNG COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online
I visited Young County and photographed the courthouse in Graham on Sunday, October 19, 2014.
"The county was included in the Peters colony, a Mexican land grant made in 1841. Though the settlement terms of the grant were loosely fulfilled eventually by the Texas Emigration and Land Company, the Young County portion of the grant remained unsettled until the 1850s.
"Young County was established by the Texas legislature in 1856 from lands formerly assigned to Bosque and Fannin counties and was attached to Wise County for judicial purposes until it was organized later that same year. The town of Belknap was chosen as the county seat. The county was named for Col. William C. Young. By 1864, according to county tax records, there were only thirty-one slaves. In 1865 the county's government was dissolved, and the area was attached to neighboring Jack County for administrative purposes. The county was reorganized in 1874, and the county records were brought back from Jacksboro. This time the new town of Graham, platted in 1873, was chosen as the county seat."
John Leffler, "YOUNG COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online
I visited Young County and photographed the courthouse in Graham on Sunday, October 19, 2014.
Young County Courthouse 1884
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
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A fragment of the 1884 courthouse remains on the square in Graham
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Young County Courthouse 1932
Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
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Photograph, circa 1939, courtesy of TXDOT
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Designed in 1931 by Fort Worth architects G.E. Withers and Jesse Thompson, the courthouse is a fine example of the Moderne Federal style of architecture
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The front façade of the courthouse faces north, on 4th Street in downtown Graham
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The cornerstone is located at the northwest corner of the building
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The entrance façade with three arched openings
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The view from the courthouse steps on the north side of the building
The courthouse square is heavily forested, preventing clear views of the building
The east façade with the county war memorial on Elm Street
The exterior is decorated with bas-relief sculpture. This is on the west facade
Bas-relief sculpture on the south façade
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