|
Date - 1889
Architect - W.C. Dodson and Dudley
Material - Limestone
Fire and drastic remodeling have changed it, but remains the same
structure built in 1889. |
Historical Marker
(on the Courthouse Square):
FANNIN COUNTY
COURTHOUSE
Commissioners
Court first met at Jacob Black's cabin on Feb. 26, 1836, before
Fannin County
was officially organized. In 1838 Warren (near present Ambrose
in Grayson County)
was named the county seat. The courthouse built there in 1840
was a two-story oak and cedar structure with rough plank floors.
In 1843 the county seat was moved to Bois d'Arc; town's
name was changed to Bonham, for an Alamo
hero, the next year. Judge John P. Simpson donated land for the
small log courthouse of 1843. Later another cabin was built with
a breezeway connecting the two. In the early courthouse jurors sat
above the courtroom in a loft that could be reached only by an outside
ladder. This log building served until 1881 when a two-story brick
structure was erected at the same location. This was replaced in
1888 by a 3-story courthouse made of native stone from Gober,
south of Bonham, and built by Scottish-born
stonemasons Kane and Cormack. Fire in 1929 destroyed the
clock steeple, and the building was remodeled. Using part of the
1888 structure, this courthouse was constructed in 1965-66
with a facade of Leuders stone. It was dedicated by Governor John
Connally.
1974
|
 |
The
3-story Fannin County Courthouse in 1917, before the fire in 1929
destroyed the clock steeple
Postcard courtesy THC |
Current condition
of the 1889 courthouse showing the red steel base for the tower. The
clock tower, when installed, will rise another 55 feet.
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2020 |
Fannin County
Courthouse Restoration
After receiving
a $400,000 planning grant and emergency grant from the Texas Historical
Commission's Courthouse Preservation Program in 2008, Fannin
County received a $5,040,000 grant in 2016 for a full historical
restoration. Another $12.5 million was secured from a bond vote in
November of 2016. (Estimated restoration costs have since swelled
to over $20 million.) The courthouse was vacated in 2017 and offices
were relocated to other buildings around town including the City Hall
and the South Annex on South Main Street, which was a former church.
Construction began in July of 2017 with the removal of the Leuders
stone. After it was removed, the black mastic (waterproof seal) had
to be washed from the original stone underneath.
Restoration to the courthouse's 1889 appearance should be complete
by summer of 2021.
- Terry
Jeanson, December 6, 2020. |
 |
| "The state
of the Fannin County Courthouse as of March 1, 2019. They are undergoing
a major restoration." - Sandi Templeton |
Fannin County
Courthouse in 2006
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
Fannin
County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Fannin
County Courthouse
Postcard
courtesy .rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Fannin
County Courthouse in the 1950s
Postcard courtesy .rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Fannin
County Courthouse in the 1960s
Postcard courtesy .rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
|
|
HOME
