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Cooke County
Courthouse
Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy County Judge Jason Brinkley, 2018 |
Cooke County
courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Historical Marker
Text
Cooke County
Courthouse
Settlement of the
area now known as Cooke
County began in late 1845. The county was created by the State
Legislature in 1848 and named for William G. Cooke, Republic of Texas
Quartermaster General and a participant in the Battle
of San Jacinto. Land for a county seat was donated by Mary E.
Clark, and the new town was Gainesville
in honor of U.S. Army General Edmund Pendleton Gaines.
There have been four courthouses located on this site. The first,
a small log structure, was erected in 1850. It was replaced in 1853
by a one-story frame building which was later destroyed by fire. The
third
courthouse, a two-story limestone structure, was completed in
1880 and destroyed by fire in 1909.
Designed by the Dallas architectural firm of Lang and Witchell, construction
of this Beaux Arts style courthouse began in 1910. The Gainesville
firm of Garrett and Collins served as supervising architects, and
M. P. Kelly of Gainesville was
the contractor. The impressive brick and limestone building features
terra cotta ornamentation, eagle brackets, and a copper-clad dome.
Clocks were added to the dome in 1920 as a World
War I memorial. The courthouse is an important North
Texas Landmark.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988. |
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The courthouse
clock tower with copper-clad dome
"Clocks were added to the dome in 1920 as a World
War I memorial."
Photo courtesy County Judge Jason Brinkley, 2018 |
Cooke County
Courthouse Historical Marker
on courthouse square
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 |
The restored
Cooke County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
Cooke County
Courthouse as it appeared in 2003
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson |
The 1911 Cooke
County Courthouse Southwest corner
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
"The courthouse
during the exterior restoration. The exterior was completed and the
courthouse rededicated in October of 2006. The interior is also being
restored."
- Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 photo |
Cooke County
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April, 2006 |
Cooke County
Courthouse skylight,
all cleaned up with new paint on the walls.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
"The district
courtroom has been restored to its original size and two story height.
The stained glass windows and most of the plaster molding on the walls
were still intact, just covered up by the previous false ceiling."
- Terry
Jeanson,
November 2011 photo |
"Rear of
the district courtroom. This courtroom never had a second story balcony
but the upper windows used to swivel open. They have been sealed shut
for security and safety reasons."
- Terry
Jeanson, November
2011 photo |
Looking down
at the rotunda staircase from the fourth floor
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
On second floor
west side staircase looking east
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, November 2011 |
1911 Cooke County
courthouse with large clock tower & undersized clocks
1920s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Cooke County
courthouse in the 1930s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Cooke County
courthouse in the late 1930s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Another view
of the 1911 Cooke County Courthouse
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
The 1878 Cooke
County Courthouse
1908 Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
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