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La Salle County
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
THE COURTHOUSES
OF LA SALLE COUNTY
By Terry
Jeanson
The first settlements in La
Salle County formed on the road from San
Antonio to Laredo
around the time the county was formed from part of Bexar County
in 1858. Fort Ewell had been established by the U.S. Army
south of the Nueces River in 1852, but was abandoned in 1854. A
small town named Fort Ewell (aka Guajoco) was formed a mile and
a half from the fort and when the fort was closed the inhabitants
moved there. The settlement of Iuka, eight miles west of
present day Cotulla, was established
in 1868 as a stage stop and meeting place for cattle buyers. As
the population in the area increased in the 1870s, many other ranches
were established and La
Salle County was officially organized in 1880 with Stuart’s
Rancho, near Guajoco, being the first county seat. The railroad
established itself in the county in the 1880s and towns like Guajoco
and Iuka faded away once settlers started moving to towns along
the railroad. A Polish immigrant, Joseph Cotulla, came to the county
in 1868 and eventually established a large ranching operation. Cotulla
encouraged the International & Great Northern Railroad to build
through the town he was developing by donating land to them. By
1882, a depot had been built and town lots were being sold. The
postmaster of Iuka, Jesse Laxton (aka Laxson or Laxon) tried to
lure the railroad also by establishing the town of La Salle
east of Cotulla across the railroad
tracks. A jail and temporary courthouse were built there and it
became the temporary county seat in 1882. After a special election
in 1883, the town of Cotulla, named
for its founder, became the county seat and the town of La Salle
was disassembled.
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The 1884 (first)
La Salle County Courthouse
burned by an arsonist in December, 1896
Photo courtesy THC |
La
Salle County’s first courthouse, built in 1884,
was a pleasant two-story Second Empire style structure made from brick
with a soaring, truncated clock tower in the center of the front of
the building, corner quoins, roof cresting and broken triangular pediments
over the extended entrances on each side. This courthouse was burned
by an arsonist in December of 1896.
A second courthouse was built the following year. It was a
square two story (with attic) wood frame structure with a hipped roof
and a three-tiered tower extending from one side of the building with
a conical turret. (A picture of this courthouse can be found at the
Texas Historical Commission’s County Atlas at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-county.htm
). This courthouse also fell to arson in 1904 when the third
county courthouse was constructed. |
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Cotulla old
post card showing churches & the 1904 courthouse
TE archive
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The third courthouse
was a two-story brick building with a hipped roof made of slate and
Romanesque style details. The corners of the building extended slightly
forward as did a central clock tower at the front entrance. (A postcard
picture of this courthouse can be found at http://www.courthousehistory.com/
).The third courthouse had many similarities to the courthouse
in Frio County designed by San
Antonio architect Henry
Truman Phelps, who worked on over a dozen courthouses in Texas.
In 1931, the 1904 courthouse was demolished and La
Salle County built their fourth and current courthouse
on the same grounds as the previous courthouses. Designed in an Art-Moderne
style with Art Deco details, it was built with brick and concrete
with ceramic and terra cotta ornamentation. It was designed by Henry
Truman Phelps and it was the last Texas courthouse he designed before
his death in 1944. The four story building (including a rooftop jail
that is no longer used) is surrounded with pilasters that are crowned
with stylized stone capitals. An ornamented stringcourse surrounds
the rooftop and the spandrels are emblazoned with the initials of
the county. A gilded terra cotta eagle with spreading wings is perched
over each entrance.
After serving the county for almost eighty years, the courthouse underwent
an extensive restoration. A majority of the funding for the restoration
came from the Texas Historical Commission in the form of a construction
grant for $2.25 million in 2008 and a full construction grant for
$3.5 million in 2010. The restoration returned the building to its
1931 architectural condition. Electrical, plumbing and phone systems
were updated and a new geothermal system was installed to replace
the building’s window air conditioning units. The construction and
restoration were nearly complete by the end of 2012 and a rededication
ceremony was held on January 26, 2013.
- Terry
Jeanson, January 2013
Sources:
County history information from The Handbook of Texas Online. Courthouse
information from the Texas Historical Commission at http://thc.state.tx.us/
and the Texas Historical Commission’s County Atlas at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-desig.htm.
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The newly restored
La Salle County courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
The
Present La Salle County Courthouse
Date - 1931
Architect - Henry Phelps
Style - Art-Moderne style with Art Deco details |
La Salle County
Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Notice circles left so that clocks could be inserted later.
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Some of the building's
ornamental details
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
Gilded terra
cotta eagles perch over each entrance
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
"Courthouse
front entrance detail. Workmen were just finishing painting the doors
when I arrived."
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
The counties
initials can be found on panels around the building.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
The restored
district courtroom
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
Dedication plaque
inside the courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
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