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Van
Zandt County Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
Van Zandt County
Texas Courthouses
By Elvis Allen,
President, Van Zandt County Historical Commission
Van Zandt County
was created by an act of the Texas Legislature on 20 march, 1848
from the territory of Henderson
County. The county boundaries ran from present Anderson
County north to Hopkins
County and from the Neches River west to the then Kaufman
and Henderson
County lines.
Van Zandt's County seat was mandated by the Legislature as a temporary
one to be located at Jordan's Saline, a three-year-old community on
the south side of the Grand Saline where a salt making operation had
been set up by John Jordan and Alney Taylor McGee. The courthouse
was one half mile south of the Grand
Saline on the west bank of Saline Creek and was a crude 16 x 16-foot
round log affair with one door and one window.
It did not take the citizens long to realize the long slender shape
of the county was impractical for their convenience so in 1849 a petition
was sent to Austin asking
for a more compact county to be formed. In 1850 the new Van
Zandt County boundaries were approved with the law mandating that,
"at or within three miles of the center of the county three places
shall be selected as the county seat and a town erected and shall
be named and styled as "Canton".
As the surveying of Canton's town lots were
going on the court selected James Bundy to build the second courthouse
and mandated it to be as the one built in Jordan's Saline except
it should be two feet larger, making it 18 x 18 feet. This was accomplished
in December 1850.
On 18 February 1851, as the county court met it ordered the
third courthouse to be built because the District Court was soon
to meet. This was of logs as well, but the ceiling was raised to 10
feet from the earlier one of 8 feet. The other change was that the
logs were hewed square instead of being left round. The round log
building was turned over for the District Court meetings and the County
Court occupied the third squared log courthouse. These two log structures
were built off the square which was reserved for the time when a permanent
courthouse could be built.
The fourth Van Zandt County courthouse in April 1857 was contracted
to Fredrick Ezell. It was built of brick and was the first built on
the square. It was 40 x 40 feet square and was two stories high. Because
of insufficiency of money, construction went slowly, and it was not
until November of 1859 until the County Court signed off and
took possession of the first courthouse actually built on the square.
The Civil War financially bankrupt the state and Van Zandt County
as well. Little money was forthcoming therefore maintenance of county
properties was neglected.
One of the final blows to the serviceability of the Ezell courthouse
came when Congressional Reconstruction ended. When the Freedman's
Bureau troopers pulled out, as a parting gift to the Van Zandters
they vandalized the courthouse. A letter from Van Zandt County Court
for redress from the federal government went unheeded. Various committees
were formed from time to time to decide if a new courthouse should
be built or merely repairs made. Repairs were the only option until
the January 1870 term of County Court when a bids order for building
a new courthouse was passed.
After all bids were rejected as "inappropriate", in January of 1872
local merchant George Washington Tull came to court and proposed that
he would build a courthouse (the 5th) for the price of $8,333.00.
At the November term the County Court accepted the new wooden two
story 50 x 50-foot courthouse.
The 6th Van Zandt County Courthouse was the first one that
was drawn up by an architect and built by a courthouse building contractor.
James Riley Gordon's design described on the Texas Historical Marker
on the courthouse lawn as Richardsonian Romanesque was the one chosen
by the court. The builder was Otto P. Kroeger. Contracts were made
by the court in August 1894, it was of rock and brick construction,
was three stories high with a six story central rotunda and tower
topped with a copper eagle. Due to a number of difficulties Kroeger
was 206 days over his contracted construction deadline when he finished
in April 1896. Big Red as the 1896 courthouse became
called, after 40 years was badly in need of repairs.
By 1934, it became apparent that the old red courthouse had become
inadequate. Although large in appearance, the building had many areas
which were never meant to be utilized as business space. The most
obvious example being the center room or rotunda. Built in the form
of a cross, the center square room from which all other rooms gained
access, could only be used for that purpose.
One
of the unique aspects of Van
Zandt County's taxing system is that it provided for a courthouse
fund. Always aware that sooner or later the county would need a new
courthouse, the citizens allowed the court to set aside money for
that eventual day.
At a special session, the commissioners' court met on June 7, 1935,
to pass a resolution authorizing Judge E.C. Stovall to file an application
with the U.S. Government seeking federal aid through the Public Works
Administration to build a new Van Zandt County courthouse. The aid
was approved in December of the same year
The architect job selected by the court was given to Voelcker and
Dixon and the General construction contract was awarded to L.W. Wentzel
of Sherman,
Texas. Sub-contractors were the American Seating Co., Dallas
and Watson Manufacturing Co., Jamestown, NY, who furnished the wood
and metal furniture, Jack Hurst Electrical Co., Quanah,
Texas received the contract for hanging all light fixtures, fans,
and clocks. Otis Elevator Co. of Dallas installed the elevator and
the Southern Prison Co., San
Antonio, Texas, built and installed the jail on the top floor.
The price tag was $190,000 and the completion date was projected to
be the 15th of December 1936. However, both the jail and the courthouse
contracts had to undergo revisions.
The final cost was $210,000 and the first extension on the date of
completion was from December to February 14, 1937. The final extension
was the 15th of April 1937 and mostly covered the finishing of the
jail which was boasted as being constructed on the same plan as the
New York City jail.
The Commissioners' court was determined however, to start the New
Year off in the courthouse and it did. It called a special session
to meet there the first day of January 1937. But the minutes of that
meeting reflect that it could have been held at their old meeting
place and at the regular meeting at any later date. This first special
meeting though, could be interpreted as a reflection of the pride
of the individual court members of their accomplishment.
The seventh courthouse, built of concrete reinforced with 86
tons of steel and finished with Ozark gray marble was accepted as
complete by the court on March 27, 1937, although some loose
ends had to be tied up.
The official dedication was held on 10 June 1937. In 2017, this seventh
courthouse was honored with a "National Historic Places" plaque and
is in line for a restoration grant from the State of Texas.
© Elvis Allen, President, Van Zandt County Historical
Commission
June 25, 2020 |
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The 1937 Van
Zandt County Courthouse
The granite centennial
marker at right honors the county namesake Isaac Van Zandt and
his wife Francis.
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT |
The Present
Van Zandt County Courthouse -
County Seat - Canton, Texas
Date : 1937
Architect : Voelcker & Dixon
Style : Moderne
Material : Brick
121 E. Dallas (Hwy 64)
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
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Van
Zandt County Courthouse detail
TE photo |
The
1937 courthouse has some fine architectural detail.
The Eagle
on the courthouse lawn was once a rite of passage for Van
Zandt County boys who would scale the old (1896)
courthouse to touch the Eagle.
Armed citizens of Canton marched on Wills
Point in 1872 when the townspeople of Wills
Point attempted to move the County Seat there. Canton
had been bypassed by the railroad. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against
the move and ordered Van
Zandt to "Keep their seat" in Canton.
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Art-Deco ornamentation
can be found in the ceiling molding in the courtroom and the interior
hallways.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
1937
Van Zandt County courthouse historical marker
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
Historical Marker
Text
Van Zandt County
Courthouse
Built in 1937 with
public Works Administration funds, this is the sixth building to serve
as the Van Zandt County Courthouse. According to local lore, the commissioners
court decreed that a modern courthouse should be erected in order
to provide jobs for men of the county during the Depression era. The
stepped massed edifice with cast stone veneer walls features art deco
and art moderne details and is noteworthy for its vertical emphasis
and its association with the architectural firm of Voelcker and Dixon.
The Wichita Falls and Houston-based firm designed several west Texas
courthouses in this style.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1999 |
Art-Deco
carvings on the south side of the courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The 1896 Van
Zandt County Courthouse
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The 1896 Van
Zandt County Courthouse
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
Historical markter
text
Site of 1896
Van Zandt County Courthouse
In 1894, the Van
Zandt County Commissioners Court approved construction of a new
brick courthouse at this site. Built between 1894 and 1896, it replaced
a frame courthouse that had served the county since shortly after
the Civil War. The noted San
Antonio Architect J. Riely Gordon designed the 1896 courthouse
in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Built on a Greek cross plan,
it features a three-story main structure and a six-story central tower
with a copper
eagle statue at the top. The building was torn down in the 1930s.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 |
1896 Van Zandt
County courthouse Historical marker in front of the present courthouse
in Canton
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The 1896 Van
Zandt County courthouse cornerstone
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006 |
The copper eagle
and cornerstone from the 1896 courthouse are on the southeast corner
of the courthouse grounds.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2006
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