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The 1897 Lavaca
County Courthouse
On the National
Register of Historic Places
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
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Now, to prove
my architectural capabilities, I'm going to let Bison Bill explain
the description of the courthouse.
"The one hundred seventy-feet tall Lavaca County courthouse is made
of brown sandstone and grey stone shipped in by rail
as huge boulders from Mill County. These stones were measured
and cut on site by local farmers and other laborers.
"It has a hipped roof and heavy towers with pyramidal roofs which
look a whole lot like those pyramids in Egypt (not the city in Texas).
The windows are tall and narrow and have what are called lintels,
which I thought always tasted best with a bit of curry powder and
cayenne pepper, except these lintels are made of stone. You won't
find me eating them.
"There are some incredible Romanesque arches all around the
courthouse. And the clock tower can be seen from miles away,
especially if you're Swoops. That tower has windows that are two-stories
tall, as tall as our house, and that tower is why this courthouse
looks so much like the one in Pittsburgh.
"Eugene
Heiner was the designer of this, his final courthouse, since
he died shortly thereafter at age 42."
That was fairly painless.
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Lavaca County
Courthouse
1899 photo courtesy Thomas Pesek, Houston, Texas |
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While we were
there, we went inside the courtroom. Bison Bill commented on its
pressed tin ceiling and the curly pine wainscoting. I found out
that the first case here was on June 5, 1899, after Chas. McMurry
shot Chas. Ledbetter right out on the courthouse square. Killed
him dead. Back then, the old jury room was located on the third
floor where the jury slept, ate, and relieved themselves in their
"handsomely equipped bathrooms."*
This particular courthouse wasn't always the seat of
justice for Lavaca
County. In fact, from 1846 to 1852, the seat changed several
times between Petersburg
and Hallettsville.
Initially, court was held in a log house in Petersburg.
That didn't last long, so from 1847 until 1851, court was held in
Josiah Dowling's house. I guess that way Mrs. Dowling had
plenty of help around the house.
A courthouse was built in 1851, using all the money in the county
treasury. This was all fine and good (enough) until 1852 when it
came time to select the permanent county seat. That was when Hallettsville
got into the mess.
The Hallett settlement was initially in Colorado
County. A road was built between Columbus
to Hidesville, the name given to this settlement because
of the buffalo hide used as the cabin door. (I think Bison Bill
just fainted.) This settlement had its own post office, and Mrs.
Hallett ran a store out of her house. Then the settlement became
part of La Baca County, a new county created in 1842.
Hidesville became Hallettsville.
In 1897, it was time for another courthouse. The old building
was demolished, and the new Heiner courthouse was slowly
erected. The crowning jewel, the seven feet tall Seth Thomas clock
in the tower, complete with arches, was put in one year late. The
courthouse was well furnished, including every room having its own
hat rack and spittoon.
In 1913, some folks who had a little too much time on their
hands figured out that Hallettsville
had thirteen letters in its name, had a population of 1300, had
13 newspapers, and to balance things out, had an equal amount of
churches and saloons, at thirteen each. Ripley's Believe It Or
Not cleverly called it the "13" city. I always heard
that "thirteen" was an unlucky number. But with a city that's known
for its kolaches and two Texas halls of fame, it's far from unlucky.
July 2001, Copyright Lou
Ann Herda, Ed. D
The Lavaca County Seats and Their Courthouses, p. 7.
Many thanks to Pat Carr, executive director of the Hallettsville
Chamber of Commerce, for assembling materials, and to Brenda Lincke-Fisseler,
town librarian, for assembling kids.
References:
2001 Texas State Travel Guide (Texas Department of Transportation)
The Lavaca County Courthouse leaflet (publication date and author
unknown)
Lavaca County Seats and Their Courthouses, 1897-1997, by Paul C.
Boethel (1997)
References and Additional Reading
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Lavaca County
Courthouse Images
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| Photo
by John Troesser, 2002 |
The two-story
Lavaca County courthouse tower,
containing the seven foot Seth Thomas clock.
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
Courthouse Pilaster
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
Courthouse clock
tower
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
Courthouse tower
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
Lavaca County
Courthouse
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
1897
Lavaca County Courthouse
Photo by John Troesser, 2001 |
Courthouse Obelisk
Photo by John Troesser, 2002 |
Historical marker
on courthouse square:
Lavaca County
Courthouse
Fifth structure
to serve as seat of justice for Lavaca, created originally as "La
Baca", a judicial county, by Congress of Republic of Texas in 1842.
Declared unconstitutional along with other judicial counties, it was
created anew by first Legislature of State of Texas on April 6, 1846,
and organized on July 13, 1846.
Earliest courthouse was of logs, and for an interval after that one
burned, court was held under a liveoak tree in old town of Petersburg.
This is third courthouse on this site since county seat was moved
to Hallettsville,
1852. Richardsonian in style, it is of Mineral Wells brown sandstone
and has base and trim of Mills County grey stone. Eugene T. Heiner
of Houston, noted
for his public buildings, was the architect. Contractors A. T. Lucas
and C. H. and J. Stadtler erected the structure in 1897-1899.
Led by members of Hallettsville Schuetzen Verein, Silver Cornet Band,
fire department, Sons of Hermann, and other orders, county dedicated
the building July 4, 1899, with Judge P. H. Green giving the main
address. Courthouse square was selected by Texas Society of Architects
in 1970 for a restoration study.
The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1971. |
Lavaca County
Courthouse Forum
I enjoyed the story
on the Lavaca County courthouse! Just an additional note to its history:
When the movie version of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" was
filmed in south Texas, the production company used the Lavaca County
courthouse as a 'stand-in' for the Fayette County courthouse (seems
the folks in La Grange were still a bit miffed about the Chicken Ranch
being shut down and they didn't want the added publicity about it!).
Much of the movie was filmed in Hallettsville, Victoria and surrounding
areas. The movie starred Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom Deluise
and Jim Nabors. Again, I enjoy your weekly newsletter very much and
forward it on to all my friends both in and out of the great state
of Texas! - R. C. Hurst - August 02, 2001 |
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