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The 1889 Runnels
County Courthouse today
US Hwy 83 & 67
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May 2005 |
Date - 1889
Architect - Eugene
T. Heiner
Style - Second Empire
Material - Stone
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
RUNNELS COUNTY
COURTHOUSE HISTORY
By Terry
Jeanson
To better handle the advance on the Texas
frontier in this area, the state legislature formed twenty-three new
counties on February 1, 1858, including Runnels
County, but lack of protection from the area’s Indian population
kept the county from being officially organized until February 16,
1880.
The county was named for Texas legislator and former governor of Mississippi,
Hiram George Runnels. His nephew, Hardin Richard Runnels, was elected
governor of Texas (defeating his opponent Sam
Houston) and served from 1857 to 1859.
The town of Walthall
was formed around 1875 about four to five miles southeast of Ballinger
and served as the first county seat for a month, from March to April,
1880. The stone house of the local pastor Thomas W. Cotten served
as a temporary courthouse before the new county seat, Runnels
City, was established that same year at the center of the county,
five miles north of Ballinger on Elm
Creek. The county’s first courthouse was built there in 1880.
It was a rock house with an adjoining jail built on land donated by
William Guest. When the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built
into the county in 1886, west from Brownwood,
the town of Ballinger was established
south of Runnels
City at the junction of Elm Creek and the Colorado River. The
enticement of a superior water supply and offers of free property
by the railroad to any citizen of Runnels
City who would move their home there and to any church that would
erect a building there, forced the move of the county seat to Ballinger
in 1888. Originally called Gresham, and then Hutchings (after Santa
Fe Railroad stockholders Walter Gresham and John H. Hutchings,) the
town was eventually named for William Pitt Ballinger, a Galveston
attorney and stockholder in the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway.
Ballinger’s daughter, Betty, would later organize the Daughters of
the Republic of Texas.
The second (and current) courthouse was constructed in Ballinger
between 1888 and 1889 in the center of a two-block square set aside
by the Santa Fe Railroad and remains one of the largest courthouse
squares in Texas. The courthouse was
designed by Houston
architect Eugene
T. Heiner and built by contractor Tom Lovell. The Second Empire
style building, with Italianate influences, utilized local stone in
its construction and was accented with sheet metal work and Mansard
roofs. The design mimicked other courthouses
designed by Heiner at the time, most notably the 1888
Falls County courthouse, the 1888
Austin County courthouse (both no longer standing) and the 1889
Wharton County courthouse (still in use and restored to its original
condition.) In 1941 the courthouse underwent an extensive remodeling
under the direction of architect Roy Lane of Dallas
and contractor Oscar Rose. Two-story wings were built onto the east
and west ends of the building with matching stone and the original
stone was sandblasted to blend in with the new wings. The wood framed
roof and central cupola were removed and replaced with a flat, steel
roof. The interior of the courthouse was renovated at this time as
well, including the dropping of the ceiling in the district courtroom.
Despite the changes, much of the historic fabric of the building is
still intact and the courthouse remains an important focal point of
the community.
- Terry
Jeanson,
September 15, 2013
Sources:
County history and biographical information from The Handbook of Texas
Online. Courthouse information from The Texas Historical Commission’s
County Atlas at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-county.htm |
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Runnels
County Courthouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May 2005 |
Historical Marker:
Runnels County
Courthouse
Constructed here,
1888-89, after hotly contested battle with Runnels
City for county seat. (County had been organized 1880.)
Structure stands on one of largest courthouse squares in Texas --
2 city blocks. Plot set aside prior to town lot sale by Santa Fe Railroad,
June 29, 1886.
In 1941, extensive remodeling modernized building. Two wings were
added and old quarry (south of town on Colorado River) was opened
to provide matching stone.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967 |
The Runnels County
Courthouse and courthouse square in 1909.
Note original Mansard roof and towers which were removed in the 1941
remodelling
Click on image to enlarge
Photo courtesy Danny
Whatley Collection |
Runnels County
Courthouse before remodelling in 1941
Postcard
courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
The Runnels County
Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Runnels County
Courthouse in 2009
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2009 |
1940s image of
the Runnels County Courthouse.
Note the Charles
Noyes' statue in the courthouse square
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
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