|
The
newly restored Comal County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
Date - 1898
Architect - J.
Riely Gordon
Style - Romanesque Revival
Material - Limestone
THE COURTHOUSES
OF COMAL COUNTY
by Terry
Jeanson
Comal County was
founded in 1846 with New Braunfels
as its county seat, which was founded a year earlier by German immigrants.
The first county court was held on August 7, 1846 in the home of Conrad
Seabaugh, the first county clerk of Comal
County. His house was on the northeast corner of the main plaza.
District court was held at the German First Protestant Church, but
the church council evicted them by April of 1847. Still searching
for a permanent place to hold court and not having any money to buy
land or build a courthouse, county officials resorted to buying two
small buildings for $600 from Theodor Sterzing which were located
on S. Seguin St. between the Elks Lodge and the home of Dr. Friedrich
Frueholz. The records were moved to these buildings on August 1, 1850.
With financial help from the state legislature, the building of Comal
County’s first real courthouse began in 1857 on the southeast
corner of the main plaza. Requests made to build the courthouse in
the center of the main plaza were rejected. The courthouse, designed
by William C. A. Thielepape of San
Antonio and built by Ferdinand Simon of New
Braunfels, was a two-story rectangular building with a flat roof
built with local limestone. It had corner quoins, segmented arches
over the windows and a rectangular parapet on one side. Completed
in 1859 at a cost of around $9,000, the building was officially dedicated
on April 30, 1860. In 1878, a county jail was built to the rear of
the courthouse. Designed by Texas courthouse architect F.E.
Ruffini, the building mimicked two other jails that Ruffini
designed for Collin
and Robertson counties, both of which are still standing. The 1878
jail in New Braunfels stood until
1958.
By 1897, it was thought by many that the 1860 courthouse was becoming
too dilapidated and that a new courthouse was needed. Once again requests
were made to build the courthouse in the center of the main plaza
and once again they were rejected. Instead, land was purchased on
the northwest corner of the plaza where a hotel by Samuel Millett
was located. San Antonio
architect James
Riely Gordon, who had already designed several courthouses in
Texas, was an early favorite to design the courthouse, but county
judge Adolph Giesecke and the commissioners court decided to advertise
for competing designs from architects around the state. Gordon’s
design was ultimately chosen, against the objections of the county
judge and August Schulze, Jr., one of the county commissioners, who
refused to have their names put on the cornerstone. (Robert Bodemann
was elected county judge in November of 1898 and his name was put
on the cornerstone.)
The courthouse was built with local limestone with red granite steps
and the Gordon
trademark of red granite columns at the arched corner entrances and
second story balconies over the south and west side entrances. The
third story balconies have a stone balustrade. Rising from the center
of the building is a square tower with tall, open archways that is
tapered towards the top. The hipped, metal roofs have decorative dormers
rising from each side. The district courtroom, with curving walls
on the north and east sides, was originally two stories with balcony
seating and receding arches in a bay behind the judge’s bench. Completed
in December of 1898 at a cost of $36,600, the new courthouse was officially
dedicated on January 22, 1899.
In 1930-31, a three story jail and additional office space was added
to the north side of the courthouse using the same local limestone.
The original north side entrance was closed off and the district courtroom
was cut in half with the upper balcony area being transformed into
office space. In 1951-52, an addition was made to the county clerk
and district offices, closing off the original east side entrance.
The Nowotny building on the west side of the courthouse (formerly
the Lenzen Hotel, built in 1901,) was sold to the county in 1963 and
turned into a temporary annex. Further renovations to the district
courtroom and the addition of an elevator and air conditioning took
place at the courthouse in 1966. In 1974, the annex was renovated.
In 1976, the county installed bells in the courthouse tower which
were donated by Walter Faust, Jr. In 1985, the courthouse annex was
demolished for the construction of the current red brick annex which
was completed in 1986 and dedicated in 1987. The courthouse was renovated
again at this time.
After many years of remodels and additions and the deterioration of
antiquated plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems,
the time came to restore the courthouse. Denied funding in 2008, in
2010, Comal County
received a $3.4 million grant from the Texas Historical Commission’s
Courthouse Preservation Program towards a complete restoration of
the courthouse to its 1898 condition. The 1931 and 1952 additions
were demolished, reopening the original north and east side entrances.
The interior, including the two story courtroom, was restored to its
original color scheme and configuration, but with all the modern conveniences
needed for today’s courthouses. The total cost of the restoration
totaled $8.6 million. A rededication for the courthouse was held on
January 22, 2013, exactly 114 years after the building’s original
dedication.
Sources: County history from The Handbook of
Texas Online. Courthouse history from the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
special centennial insert by Myra Lee Adams Goff, January 17, 1999.
Jail history from “Wanted: Historic County Jails of Texas” by Edward
A. Blackburn, Jr., 2006. |
 |
Comal County
Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
The
courthouse tower which rises to a height of 83 feet. The bells in
the tower were not installed until 1976.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
A
view of the northeast corner of the courthouse before restoration
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2010 |
During
restoration in September of 2011.
The remaining portion of the old jail is at the right.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson |
The
restored district courtroom. According to the restoration engineers
the color is officially “dusky-rose.”
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
The
original wallpaper in the courtroom was uncovered during restoration
and restored, which included the gold highlights to give the decoration
a three dimensional look.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
First
floor courtroom on the north side below the district courtroom. The
restored judge’s bench is the original from 1898. A spiral staircase
to the right leads up to the district courtroom. The spiral staircase
had to be reconstructed and lowered in through the ceiling.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
Interior
hallway on the first floor by the staircase. The tile on the third
floor was still intact at the time of restoration but had to be replicated
on the lower floors.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
The
restored north entrance. The original tile was discovered underneath
a modern flooring and restored at each entrance.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2013 |
| The
1898 Comal County Courthouse designed by J.
Riely Gordon is nearly identical to Gordon's Lee
County Courthouse (1897) in Giddings.
He saved money on blueprints. The resemblance is seldom noticed since
one is brick (Lee County) and the other stone (Comal). Giddings'
is also free standing on a huge lawn while the New Braunfels building
has had an extension added. A downspout on the courthouse passes right
in front of the cornerstone obscuring Gordon's name. |
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Comal
County Courthouse
The design in stone
TE photo |
Lee
County Courthouse in Giddings
The design in brick
TE photo |
Confederate soldier
and the courthouse
TE photo |
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