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First Johnson
County Courthouse
"Oldest log courthouse in Texas"
Photo courtesy Johnson County Chisholm Trail Museum
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Named for Thomas
William Ward, a Texas Revolution hero, Wardville was the first county
seat of Johnson County
in 1855. A post office opened that year but it closed within two years.
Although it was chosen as county seat by the state legislature; it
was found to be slightly off-center. State law dictated (for ease
in voting) that county seats be as near the geographic center of a
county as possible).
An election was held in 1856 and the winner was Buchanan,
Texas – a fledgling community five miles west.
Wardville citizens relocated to Buchanan
and after the post office closed, prospects for Wardville’s future
were dashed. |
The
original Johnson County log cabin courthouse in snow
Photo courtesy Johnson County Chisholm Trail Museum
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Johnson County
Chisholm Trail Museum
(From their website,
http://www.jcchisholmtrail.com)
"It is the home of Wardville, the first county seat of Johnson
County established in 1854. This was nine years after Texas became
a state. Originally this was Navarro
County, which ran from west of us at Glen
Rose all the way to Corsicana
over in east Texas. Since the only transportation was "horse or mule
powered," in those days, it was difficult to do county business and
the state recognized the need to divide into more and smaller counties.
William O'Neal donated eighty acres to the new county
of Johnson and he and his brother built the first courthouse which
is here on site and is now accepted as the oldest log courthouse in
Texas. From 1854 to 1856 with Wardville as the county seat, there
were twenty-nine families living between Town Branch Creek and where
the courthouse is today.
The Wardville Cemetery has been located and restored. At present we
have a Stage Station/Saloon representing the stage line that ran out
of Cleburne and the
seventeen saloons in this area during the heyday of the Chisholm Trail
cattle drives. We also have the Sherrif's Office and Jail that was
added in 2010. There was a jail at Wardville in 1855 and we have the
jail doors from the original jail. These historic doors were used
in three different jails over the years and have made their way back
to their original location. The metal cell bars were used in the county
work farm in 1885."
Submitted by Matthew Lee, December 21, 2017 |
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Original 1854
Johnson County Jail Doors
Photo courtesy Johnson County Chisholm Trail Museum
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Historical Marker
( On US 67, 50 yds W of Cleburne
city limits)
Site of Wardville
(1/4 mile south
of marker) First county seat of Johnson
County, chosen in Aug. 1855, and located on an 80-acre donation
from William O'Neal. Named for Thomas William Ward (1807-72), a
Republic of Texas soldier and second commissioner of General Land
Office of Texas. The first courthouse, 16 feet square, was built
by O'Neal of logs overlaid with clapboards, at cost of $49. When
Wardville was found to violate Texas constitution's requirement
that a county seat be within 5 miles of center of county, it was
abandoned (1856). Ironically, later county line changes made it
near the center.
1972
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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