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Kinney County
Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
On the National Register of Historic Places
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2009 |
|
Date - 1910
Architect - L.L. Thurman of Dallas
Style - Beaux-Arts
Material - Brick
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
On the National Register of Historic Places
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Kinney County
Courthouse as it appered in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Historical Marker
(501 N. Ann Street, Brackettville):
KINNEY COUNTY
COURTHOUSE
Human inhabitation
of Kinney County
began thousands of years ago. Spanish expeditions through the area
began in 1535 and continued throughout subsequent centuries. An attempt
at establishing a Franciscan mission in 1775 failed, as did settlement
by Dr. John Charles Beales in 1834.
Despite the hardships found in the area, Kinney
County was carved out of Bexar
County in 1850, two years before the U.S. Army opened Fort
Clark as a frontier outpost. That same year, in 1852, local inhabitants
established the Brackett settlement, named for Oscar B. Brackett who
set up a stage stop, freight office and dry goods store to service
the stage line from San
Antonio to El
Paso.
Named for early settler and adventurer Henry Lawrence Kinney, Kinney
County did not formally organize for 21 years; officials first
met in Brackett's home in 1873. Brackettville,
as the town had come to be called, was chosen as the county seat.
Subsequent meetings were held in the Kartes and Co. building until
1879, when the county's first courthouse was built. The county used
the 1879 building, which later housed a post office
and Masonic lodge, until 1911. That year, the county first occupied
this courthouse, designed by L.L. Thurmon and Co. of Dallas.
Falls City Construction Co. of Louisville, Kentucky, served as General
Contractor.
The Kinney County Courthouse exhibits Beaux Arts Classicism. Detailing
seen on the central bell tower is repeated on the octagonal corner
towers and columned entryways. Buff brick is accented with D'Hanis
red brick banding and corner quoins. The Seth Thomas clock in the
bell tower completes the building, which, after some alterations,
still demonstrates the massing, style and design selected by the early
county commissioners.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003 |
Photographer's
Note:
It is not uncommon for people to approach me when I am photographing
county courthouses. They generally fall into two categories. Those
who understand my interest and those who don't.
During my visit to Brackettville
in January of 2009, I met Tully Shahan and he definitely falls into
the former category. After working at the courthouse for over thirty
years, he now has his own law office across from the courthouse. He
encouraged me to explore the interior and look at the copies of the
original blueprints for the courthouse which are framed and hanging
on the walls on the first and second floors. A close examination of
these blueprints reveal changes that have been made to the building
over the years, but the courthouse maintains much of its original
exterior condition without any modern additions. Designed in a Beaux-Arts
style, the courthouse was completed in 1911, built mostly of buff
brick with D’Hanis red brick on
the corner quoins. The most striking features of this building are
the octagonal towers framing the front entrance and the octagonal
clock tower. The clock tower received some restoration work in 2005.
Mr. Shahan told me that the clock still works, but the county does
not have anyone who can wind it on a regular basis.
Mr. Shahan seemed disappointed that there weren’t more people that
were interested in maintaining and restoring the courthouse, which
is nearly 100 years old, but he seemed optimistic for the building’s
future. It wasn’t until after my discussion with Mr. Shahan that I
discovered that he is the son of Virginia Webb Shahan and James T.
“Happy” Shahan on whose ranch the Alamo Village was built for the
1960 John Wayne movie, “The Alamo.” A six time mayor of Brackettville,
Happy Shahan is honored with a plaque inside the courthouse which
denotes him as the “Father of the Texas Film Industry” and the man
who made Brackettville “The Movie
Capitol of Texas.” - Terry
Jeanson, January 14, 2009 |
 |
| The courthouse
clock tower, which received some restoration work in 2005. Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson |
| "The Seth
Thomas clockworks (with a date of November 5th, 1910) sits in a case
outside of the district courtroom. Although working, there is currently
no one available to wind it on a regular basis."
- Terry
Jeanson, January 2009 |
East view of
Kinney County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2009 |
Northwest view
of Kinney County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2009 |
The 1910 Kinney
County Courthouse nearing completion
Photo courtesy THC |
The 1879 former
Kinney County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2009 |
| "This building
on the courthouse square was built in 1878-79 and served as the first
county-owned courthouse. When the current courthouse was completed
in 1911, this building served as the headquarters of the Las Moras
Masonic Lodge. The first floor was used as a post office from 1918
to 1983." - Terry
Jeanson |
Early image of
the 1879 Kinney County Courthouse
Vintage photo courtesy THC |
The 1869 Kinney
County Courthouse
Old Photo courtesy THC |
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