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" Wheeler
County courthouse was restored and rededicated in 2004."
- Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September, 2007 |
The Present
Wheeler County Courthouse
- Wheeler, Texas
Date
- 1925
Architect - E. H. Eads
Style - Classical Revival
Material - Brick
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Mobeetie was the original
county seat.
The county seat was moved to Wheeler
in 1908. |
The 1925 Wheeler
County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy of TXDoT |
Historical marker
on the west side of the courthouse.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September, 2007 |
Historical
Marker:
Wheeler
County Courthouse
Named for Royal
T. Wheeler, an early Texas jurist, Wheeler
County was created by the Texas State Legislature in 1876.
In 1879 the county was organized and Mobeetie
(then known as Sweetwater), the only town in the county, became the
county seat. A stone courthouse was erected from locally quarried
materials in 1880. That structure was replaced with a wood
frame building in 1888.
As the area grew and its center changed, the town of Wheeler
was officially designated the county seat in 1908. The wooden courthouse
was moved to this site, but by 1913 it was too small to serve the
county's needs. A separate building was erected on the southwest corner
of the courthouse square that year to house the county clerk's office;
it was enlarged in 1923. A bond election held in 1925 set aside
funds for a new courthouse. The 1888 courthouse was sold to Sheriff
Riley Price, who dismantled it and used the lumber to build barns
on his ranch east of town.
Designed by E. H. Eads of Shamrock,
the edifice was built by local contractors Hughes and Campbell. Featuring
Palladian windows and Corinthian columns characteristic of the Classical
Revival style, the 1925 Wheeler County Courthouse typifies the favored
style of American public buildings of its time. The 1913 county clerk's
office was torn down in 1929; curbs and sidewalks were in place after
the summer of 1930. Gas heat and a water system were installed in
1926. The streets on all four sides of the courthouse were paved in
1944 and the surrounding streets in the late 1970s. Standing prominently
on the town square, the historic Wheeler County Courthouse continues
to serve as the center of local government.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2000 |
NOTE:
"The updated Kelsey and Dyal courthouse book lists four courthouses
for Wheeler County
with the dates of 1880 and 1888 (in Mobeetie)
and 1907 and 1925 (in Wheeler.)
The historical marker specifically states that the 1888 courthouse
was moved to Wheeler but replaced
in 1913. So it seems that there are four courthouses dated 1880, 1888,
1913 and 1925.
However, the historical
marker also states that the 1913 building (enlarged in 1923) was
used as the county clerk's office, so it wasn't technically a new
courthouse, just an annex. The 1888 courthouse wasn't dismantled until
the 1925 courthouse was being built. So, technically, there were only
three courthouses. 1880, 1888 and 1925." - Terry
Jeanson |
More views of
the 1925 Wheeler County courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September, 2007 |
Wheeler County
courthouse entrance
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September, 2007 |
"The
1888 Wheeler County courthouse in the first county seat of Mobeetie
was moved to the town of Wheeler
when Wheeler was elected as the
new county seat in 1908. This picture of the 1888 wooden courthouse
is hanging in the district clerk's office in the current courthouse."
- Terry
Jeanson, September, 2007
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