229 of 254 Randall County Courthouse, Canyon, Texas. County Population: 120,725
Randall County, Texas
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"Randall County, on the Llano Estacado near the center of the Panhandle, is bordered by Potter County to the north, Carson County to the northeast, Armstrong County to the east, Swisher County to the southeast, Castro County to the southwest, Deaf Smith County to the west, and Oldham County to the northwest. Randall County has an area of 922 square miles that extends over an eastward sloping tableland broken by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, which flows through Palo Duro Canyon, and its tributaries, Palo Duro and Tierra Blanca creeks. The elevation is 3,000 to 3,800 feet above mean sea level; the canyons range from 50 to 1,750 feet in depth.
"Randall County was separated from Bexar County in 1876 and named for Horace Randal, Confederate brigadier general killed at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas, in 1864; a clerical error doubled the 'l' in the name. Settlement began in 1876 when Charles Goodnight drove 1,600 cattle into Palo Duro Canyon and established his Old Home Ranch. "The county was unorganized from 1876 to 1889 and was attached successively to Jack County (1876–79), Wheeler County (1879–81), Oldham County (1881–83), Donley County (1883–85), Oldham County again (1885–89), and Potter County (1889). 200 petitioners led by Lincoln G. Conner successfully arranged for an election, held in July 1889 at Conner's dugout. Canyon City (later Canyon), which Conner had laid out earlier that year, was elected county seat." H. Allen Anderson and Mark Odintz, "RANDALL COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online |
I visited Randall County on Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14, 2015 and photographed the courthouse in Canyon.
Along US 60, west of Canyon
The Randall County courthouse square
Randall County Courthouse 1908
R. G. Kirsch Company, Architect. Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
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The tower was removed in 1945. Image courtesy of courthousehistory.com
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Randall County Courthouse 1968
Photo by J. Larry Nance, from The Texas Courthouse, 1971
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Photo by June Rayfield Welch, from The Texas Courthouse Revisited, 1984
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Thanks to grants from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program, the exterior of the Randall County courthouse was restored and rededicated in 2010
The northwest corner of the courthouse
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The southwest corner of the courthouse
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View from the corner of 4th Ave and 15th Street
The south facade faces 5th Ave
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The ubiquitous doughboy statue honoring WWI veterans
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The northeast corner of the courthouse
View from the north entrance of 4th Ave
The south doors of the courthouse
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The courthouse tower was removed in 1945 and restored in 2010
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The historic courthouse interior is waiting for funds for a complete restoration
Another view of the unrestored (and unsed) interior
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Building on the west side of the courthouse square, along 15th Street
The Randall County Finance Building is southeast of the courthouse square
Another view of the County Finance Building, at the corner of 5th Ave and 16th Street
The Randall County Justice Center, 2006, Sims Parge Architects, Amarillo.
