Last week I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak to the Alexander Hodge Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution in Sugar Land.  The group was very receptive to my presentation on Texas courthouses and my ongoing project, documented on this website.  In the course of introducing my topic I noted that Texas, with 254 counties had by far the most counties of any US state.  A true statement.  Unfortunately, I went on to mention that the state of Georgia has the second most counties.  At this point I erred by stating that Georgia has 99 counties.  At the end of my presentation a gentleman noted that Georgia couldn't be number two because Kentucky has 120 counties.  Humbled by my ignorance of the number of counties in other states I apologized for speaking about a subject I hadn't thoroughly researched and promised in the future to limit my comments to Texas counties.  Mea culpa.

I now wish to correct the record:  Georgia is number two, but I was incorrect in stating it has 99 counties; the actual number of counties in Georgia is 159.  (Delaware has the fewest counties: 3)  I would also like to point out that Loving County Texas has the fewest inhabitants of ANY county in the entire United States of America, 82.  For more information on US counties, click here.

In 2012 I've visited and photographed 45 Texas counties, beginning with Panola County and ending with Kaufman County.  I've also re-visited a number of counties across the state and updated their pages on this website.  It's been a productive year and I've kept busy traveling, photographing, editing and creating new county pages.  As of this afternoon I've finished 129 county pages.  (Actually, not, I just remembered I declared a "Mulligan," or do-over, on Burnet County, so it's 128 completed pages.)  Regardless, I recently completed the last of the 2011 visits:  Aransas, Calhoun, Webb, Zapata and Jim Hogg counties.  Over the "winter" months I'll finish the 45 counties I visited in 2012 and thus be caught up for the first time since I began this project!





 

I just finished county number 124, Nueces County.  Corpus Christi is the county seat.  I honestly don't know which is sadder, the neglected 1914 courthouse or the "new" 1977 courthouse.  After letting the 1914 building sit idle for 35 years, the county can't afford to restore it (estimated cost about $41 million) and can't demolish it before 2027 for legal reasons.  On the other hand, the 1977 building is an awful design.  My hope is that by 2027 the 1977 building will be abandoned and demolished and the 1914 courthouse (fully restored) will become the centerpiece of a new county complex.

I haven't added any new counties since visiting Kaufman County, southeast of Dallas, on August 19th.  However, I've been busy editing photographs of counties I visited about a year ago, and completing web pages on a number of them, bringing me up to #120.  Of course, that means I still have a backlog of 54 counties to edit and post.  It just takes time.  After you finish this blog post check out Kendall County #115, Mason County #116, McCulloch County #117, Travis County #118, Dallas County #119 and Refugio County #120.

Over the Labor Day weekend I took a short day trip to Gonzales, seat of Gonzales County, to revisit this important historic town and its J. Riely Gordon designed courthouse.  It was a hot, sunny Texas day and I enjoyed the ride west on I-10 to Flatonia, Texas.  I stopped at Joel's BBQ in Flatonia and had a sliced beef sandwich before heading south on Highway 95 to Moulton, in Lavaca County.  Moulton is a lovely German-Czech-American town in the rolling hills of south-central Texas.  It doesn't have a courthouse but it does have a number of historic buildings and is worth a visit. 
I turned west at Moulton and took Farm Road 532 to Gonzales.  This narrow, 2-lane road winds through the rolling hills and is a delight to drive on a nice day.  I stopped and photographed a "too good to be true" ranch house just west of Moulton and then stopped again a few hundred yards up the road to record this pasture scene.

I had first visited and photographed the Gonzales County courthouse on my birthday, June 8, 2009.  On that day Donna and I drove from San Antonio to Houston on US 90 Alt, visiting courthouses in Seguin, Gonzales and Hallettsville.  We also made a most important stop in Shiner to visit the Spoetzl Brewery, home of Shiner Beers.

I arrived in Gonzales on my recent trip about 11:30 AM and drove into town on St. Louis Street, stopping to walk around the 1936 Gonzales Memorial Museum and Amphitheater.  This moderne building and landscape is looking a little weather-worn but it's stil an impressive monument to the Texas Revolution, which began in Gonzales, the "Lexington" of our state's revolution. 

Gonzales is home to many fine late 19th century buildings, including the 1895 Gonzales County courthouse.  The courthouse is still in use after 117 years! 

Downtown Gonzales is alive and well.  There are 3 full block "squares" in the center of town, with the courthouse and county jail in one of them.  There's also an unfortunate "Justice" building just east of the historic courthouse, but it doesn't detract from the courthouse.  The old jail is now a visitor's center.  A tour of the jail includes the gallows room.

I spent a couple of hours in Gonzales before returning home to Houston.  The end result was a completely new Gonzales County web page.  Check it out here.