Courthouse Road Trip August 2 - 4, 2013

After flying to Dallas on business on Friday, August 2, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit some more counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  This weekend I rented a Dodge Charger from Enterprise.  It was dark gray on the outside with a black interior.  (It looked a lot like an unmarked police car.)  Not exactly an ideal color scheme for very hot, sunny days, but it did gain me much more respect on the roads than the pink Chevy Spark I drove to east Texas in July.  And, I found it to be a very comfortable road car.

Leaving Dallas in the afternoon, I spent an hour in slow, bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-35E and I-30 before finally breaking free at the Rockwall County line.  On my way east on I-10 I passed the new Rockwall County courthouse.  It is certainly a distinctive landmark on the north side of the interstate highway.

North and east I drove to Hunt County, number 188 on my list.  I arrived in Greenville, the county seat, as the temperature reached 102 degrees.  Parking in the shade of a building on Johnson Street, I took a deep breath of cool air, opened the car door and stepped out into the oven, otherwise known as Texas in August.

The Hunt County courthouse dates from 1928 and was designed by the Page Brothers Architects of Austin.  It occupies most of the courthouse square in downtown Greenville.  The building is in fair condition.  The grand exterior stairs on the south and north sides of the building no longer lead to entrances.  For security purposes, the entrance is now on the ground level, under the south stairs.  The courthouse interior is worn, but serviceable. 

The south facade on Washington Street. The public entrance is under the grand stairs.

Leaving Greenville in my rear view mirror, I followed I-20 east, into Hopkins County, number 189 on the "Lane" list.  My desitination was Sulphur Springs, the county seat.  Arriving in the late afternoon, I drove north into town and soon caught a glimpse of the courthouse tower.  The 1894 courthouse was restored in 2002.  It's a beauty.  By now, you should be able to identify the architect of this distictive building without my assistance.  Not only does Hopkins County have a marvelous historic courthouse, the town of Sulphur Springs has a beautiful, new public square to go with its stately courthouse.

This is one of the more elaborate courthouse squares I've found in Texas.  Especially for a relatively small town (about 15,000 population).  The courthouse occupies the northeast corner of the square and aligns its southwest entrance with a diagonal axis of the square.  The photograph below is a view from the southwest of the square and the courthouse in the background.  A fountain provides a cool playground for children on a hot August afternoon.

The Hopkins County courthouse in Sulphur Springs.

I spent Friday night in Sulphur Springs.  Dinner and drinks at the Twisted "S" restaurant was excellent, by the way.
On Saturday morning I spent some more time in the courthouse square and even found a local railroad, the Blacklands Railroad, to photograph.  (That made my day.)

The Blacklands Railroad, headquartered in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Moving on, it was a short drive north from Sulphur Springs to Cooper, the seat of Delta County, number 190 on THE list of Texas counties.  At 277 square miles, Delta County is one of the smallest counties in the state.  The courthouse is a 1941 replacement for a historic courthouse that previously occupied the town square.  This rather forgettable building is on a small parcel of land a block away from the town square.  Not much more to say about it.

The east facade of the Delta County courthouse faces NW 2nd Street and the backside of a bank building in Cooper.

North of Delta County is a Texas town I've been looking forward to visiting for many years:  Paris(!), the seat of Lamar County, number 191 on my list.  Paris is, of course, the "Paris" of Texas.  There's even a 1984 movie with the title "Paris, Texas."  (Spoiler:  the movie wasn't filmed in Paris.)  A town of about 25,000 population, a few miles south of the Red River, Paris is home to a surprising number of historic buildings, including the Lamar County courthouse.  I enjoyed my brief stay in the Paris of Texas.

A lovely 1927 fountain fills the center of the Paris town square.

The 1917 era courthouse is a real beauty.  Strangely, it occupies the corner of Main and Houston Streets, a block north of the town square.  It's actually an urban building type, set near to the street and intended to be viewed close-up rather than from afar.  It's in good shape.

The front facade of the Lamar County courthouse faces N. Main Street.

Directly across Main Street from the courthouse is the Paris Bakery, my favorite coffe shop in the Texas version of Paris.  I stopped by for a cup of coffee and ended up with a wonderful pastry, too.  It was a quiet Saturday morning and I enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the heat and rest while looking out the window at the courthouse.  In hindsight, I should have stayed longer:  the chocolate zucchini bunt cake had my name written all over it!

The name says it all.

I had some extra time (or so I thought), so I decided to see another county before visiting Fannin County on my way to Dallas Love Field for my 6:00 PM flight to Houston.  West of Lamar County is the aptly named Red River County, now forever known as number 192 on the Lane list.  The seat, Clarksville, is named after my favorite uncle and mentor. (At least that's my verison of Texas history.)  The town square, seen below, is recently updated and very nice, but comes up short when compared to Sulphur Springs:  no public toilets!  As you can see, the courthouse is not on the square.  It's two blocks north and west. 

This is a courthouse I had been looking forward to seeing in person.  The architect, a Mr. William H. Wilson, was from Dallas.  Having seen it, this 1894 courthouse is now one of my personal favorites.  The style is "creative" to say the least.  It's technically "Second Empire, with Baroque and Italianate elements."  Whatever.  The Red River County courthouse was one of the first to be restored via the Texas Historical Commission’s Courthouse Preservation Program.  Thank goodness!  It's a state treasure.  Learn more about it here.

The north facade of the Red River County courthouse. That's a 1910 addition on the right.

Back in my unmarked police car, I retraced my route west to Paris and continued on through beautiful rolling country to Bonham, the seat of Fannin County, number 193 on the Lane list.

US Highway 82, westbound in Fannin County, Texas.

Bonham has a large central square, with lots of land around the courthouse.  Believe it of not, this is a W.C. Dodson building,dating from 1888.  There's even a cornerstone on the building to prove it.  Of course, this doesn't look like a Dodson designed courthouse, does it?  That's because it has been, well, remodeled a few times.  After a fire in 1929, the original tower and roof were removed.  Then, in 1965 the entire courthouse was "modernized" and that's what you see today.  I question just how much, if any, of the 1888 building remains within this shell. 

The south façade of the Fannin County courthouse.

By the way, Bonham was also the home of Sam Rayburn (1882-1961), Speaker of the US House of Representatives for 17 years.

Time to go!  I got on Texas 121 and headed southwest, towards McKinney.  However, upon arriving at the on-ramp to US 75 south I found that the freeway was closed in the southbound direction.  Traffic was, shall we say, stopped.  Trapped on the on-ramp, I decided to follow some other vehicles and went "cross country" to escape via a nearby county road.  Of course, the county road was full of others trying to by-pass US 75.  We inched along for a couple of miles and then joined another 2 lane road that was clogged with vehicles from US 75.  Long story short.  I realized there was no way I could make the 6:00 PM flight to Houston.  I checked with Southwest and found that the 7:00 PM flight was full and that was the last scheduled flight on Saturday.  (So, I booked a seat on the 5:00 PM flight to Houston on Sunday.)  Extending my stay in the "metroplex," I drove on to Fort Worth and spent the night at a hotel on the west side of town.
 
Sunday morning I was on the road again.  My first stop was Decatur, seat of Wise County.  I'd first visited Decatur in June 2010.  It's a pretty little town with an 1896  James Riely Gordon courthouse in the center of the town square.  I'd wanted to re-photograph this historic courthouse and this was my opportunity.

The Decatur Police stole my Dodge Charger!

From Decatur I drove west on Texas 114 to Jacksboro, seat of Jack County, number 194 on the Lane list.  Jacksboro has a nice town square with several historic stone buildings.  It's also home to this1940 era courthouse. Air conditioning seems to have been any afterthought, given the number of window units decorating the sides of the building.  On the front lawn is the cornerstone of the 1886 courthouse and its bell.

Next, I drove north on Texas 148 to the seat of Clay County, Henrietta, number 195 on the Lane list.  Clay County is another of the Texas counties that line the south side of the Red River.  It's courthouse was also designed by the Dallas architect William Wilson, along with a Mr. Tozer (see Red River County).  I don't know if this building came before or after the 1884 Red River courthouse.  Unlike the courthouse in Clarksville, this building has suffered through several alterations over the years.  The original clock tower and roof have been removed and a new dome was added, along with an unfortunate one-story addition in the southeast corner of the building.

Pray for rain and a courthouse restoration, too.

The Clay County courthouse is ready for the holidays!

Last, but not least, I drove west on US 82 to Nocona, Texas and then south to Montague, seat of Montague County, number 196 on the Lane list.  Montague is a small town with a very impressive 1912 era courthouse on a hill in the town square.  The building is in good shape, having just been treated to a new roof.  There's also a large, new county courthouse annex nearing completion across the street from the historic courthouse. 

The southwest corner of the Montague County courthouse.

Who you gonna call?  I didn't wait to find out.  I had a plane to catch in Dallas.  Today I made it with time to spare.

On the courthouse square in Montague, Texas.