Story by Matt Joyce // Photography by Jeff Wilson
Texas’ Historic County Courthouses
shine with grandiosity and ambition. Often politically controversial because of their expense, courthouse projects in the 19th and early 20th centuries lasted years as counties selected architects and builders, quarried and imported materials, then painstakingly assembled the larger-than-life landmarks in the middle of town. It’s not hard to imagine a farmer stopping by a courthouse construction site to take in the scene, scratching his head at the columns, parapets, and towers rising from the prairie.
Bosque County Courthouse
Meridian, 1886
Potter County courthouse
amarillo, 1932


Shelby County Courthouse
Center, 1885
Navarro County courthouse
corsicana, 1905


Donley County Courthouse
Clarendon, 1891
Cass County courthouse
linden, 1861


Atascosa County Courthouse
Jourdanton, 1913
Bell County courthouse
belton, 1884


Caldwell County Courthouse
lockhart, 1894
Tom Green County courthouse
San Angelo, 1928
