Paris and Pittsburg. Texas that is. Visiting all 254 Texas county courthouses
Nov 29, 2015, 8:51 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Paris and Pittsburg. Texas that is. Visiting all 254 Texas county courthouses
I'm very close now to reaching my goal of visiting every country (11 remaining!). I've been thinking about what my next travel goal/obsession should be. One of my friends is a geography professor and he mentioned he'd visited almost every county in Texas. There are 254 counties in Texas, more counties than there are countries! He also mentioned that a coworker of his had visited every courthouse in Texas. That seemed like a nice goal to go for. I've been through maybe 1/3 of the counties in Texas already, but mostly driving through on the interstate. Visiting all the courthouses would give me a good feel of small-town Texas.
This will be an ongoing trip report as who knows how long it will take me to complete all of them! I've gotten a good start though the past few months and have already visited almost 1/4 of the courthouses.
This will be an ongoing trip report as who knows how long it will take me to complete all of them! I've gotten a good start though the past few months and have already visited almost 1/4 of the courthouses.
Nov 29, 2015, 9:34 pm
#3
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I knew a girl in college that was from Paris, TX. She was interesting.
Also I forgot how many stupid counties there are in this state until I went online to renew my vehicle registration a couple days ago and there was a dropdown menu of all the counties. Seriously? With the exception of the top 20 counties, I'd venture to guess the 234 have a population of 2,000 or less. If you look around for a population density map of Texas, outside of the big 4 cities, we might as well start counting horses or something.
BTW, let me know if you ever need to hit up Harris or Fort Bend counties!
Also I forgot how many stupid counties there are in this state until I went online to renew my vehicle registration a couple days ago and there was a dropdown menu of all the counties. Seriously? With the exception of the top 20 counties, I'd venture to guess the 234 have a population of 2,000 or less. If you look around for a population density map of Texas, outside of the big 4 cities, we might as well start counting horses or something.
BTW, let me know if you ever need to hit up Harris or Fort Bend counties!
Nov 29, 2015, 9:59 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Sep 26-Sep 27, 2015
Distance driven: 250 miles
Counties visited: Colorado, Austin, Fayette, Bastrop
A few weeks ago I went camping with some friends the Stephen F. Austin park near Houston. This was near the original Anglo settlement in Texas, San Felipe de Austin. On the way there and back I stopped at a few of the courthouses and learned more about Texas history. My friend and I drove in from Austin and another friend was driving in from San Antonio. Along the way we stopped at Hruskas in Ellinger for some kolaches, it was crazy busy and we had to park on the other side of the road! After stocking up on some cherry and pumpkin kolaches, we continued on to Columbus. Our friend Dean wasn't here yet so we went into town to have a look around.
Columbus, COLORADO County
The Columbus area is one of the oldest Anglo-settled areas of Texas. Settlers first arrived in 1821 with Stephen F. Austin when Texas was still part of Mexico. Initial settlement was mostly along the Colorado and Brazos rivers. The gorgeous Colorado county courthouse was on the main square. It was constructed in 1890 and originally had a clock tower that was damaged in a hurricane in 1909 and replaced with a dome. On one side of the courthouse was a unique crenellated water tower that house a (closed) Confederate museum. On the other side of the courthouse was an old tree where court was held before the original courthouse was built.
We continued on to have lunch at Jerry Mikeska's Bar-B-Q while waiting on Dean to arrive. This restaurant has been in operation since 1987. The owner was a prolific hunter and I'm pretty sure he had taken aim at anything that moved. The walls were covered with stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. There was a couple of anemic polar bears greeting you at the door and some scrawny squirrels. BBQ was OK, nothing special. Jerry himself was wandering around the room, dressed in a bow tie.
We continued along I-10 past Sealy for the turn-off for Stephen F. Austin state park. Nearby is the original Anglo settlement in Texas, San Felipe de Austin, founded in 1824 by Stephen F. Austin and the Old 300. Nothing remains of the original town as it was burned by the settlers during the Texas war of Independence from Mexico just 11 years later.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around the park and spent the night camping. On the drive back to Austin the next day we visited a few more courthouses. First stop was Bellville in Austin county, just a short drive from the park. This courthouse was actually disappointing, it was a modern (ugly) block of a building. in the middle of a roundabout. We had a wander about town and came upon the much-more interesting old county jail, which was now a museum. Unfortunately my phone battery had just died as I'd been overusing the GPS... so didn't get any pictures here.
Brazos River, Stephen F. Austin Park
Next we drove through the town of Fayetteville, which was named after Fayetteville in North Carolina. There was an old wooden courthouse here, though this is not the county seat. There was also a historical marker describing the 'Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas', the Czech-Texas fraternal organization. Central Texas had large immigrations from central and Eastern Europe, and the food and names here still reflect that. The area around New Braunfels and Fredericksburg had large German immigrant populations.
Fayetteville, FAYETTE County
Old hotel, Fayetteville
La Grange, FAYETTE County
Next stop was La Grange, the county seat of Fayette county. I'd driven past La Grange dozens of times on SH71 but had never actually been to the town center. Today was Sunday so it was pretty dead. Despite also being completed in 1891, the courthouse was different style than the one in Columbus. The courthouse was designed by James Reily Gordon, who went on to design over a dozen Texas courthouses before gaining national fame. On the way out of town we stopped at Weikel's, another famous kolache bakery.
Bastrop, BASTROP County
Bastrop was our last stop on the way back to Austin. Along the way you can still see the damage from the huge forest fire that hit the area east of Bastrop during the severe drought in 2011. I'd been to Bastrop a few times but had never been by the courthouse. The courthouse was completed in 1883. The old (still in use) jail is next door, connected by a walkway.
Distance driven: 250 miles
Counties visited: Colorado, Austin, Fayette, Bastrop
A few weeks ago I went camping with some friends the Stephen F. Austin park near Houston. This was near the original Anglo settlement in Texas, San Felipe de Austin. On the way there and back I stopped at a few of the courthouses and learned more about Texas history. My friend and I drove in from Austin and another friend was driving in from San Antonio. Along the way we stopped at Hruskas in Ellinger for some kolaches, it was crazy busy and we had to park on the other side of the road! After stocking up on some cherry and pumpkin kolaches, we continued on to Columbus. Our friend Dean wasn't here yet so we went into town to have a look around.
Columbus, COLORADO County
The Columbus area is one of the oldest Anglo-settled areas of Texas. Settlers first arrived in 1821 with Stephen F. Austin when Texas was still part of Mexico. Initial settlement was mostly along the Colorado and Brazos rivers. The gorgeous Colorado county courthouse was on the main square. It was constructed in 1890 and originally had a clock tower that was damaged in a hurricane in 1909 and replaced with a dome. On one side of the courthouse was a unique crenellated water tower that house a (closed) Confederate museum. On the other side of the courthouse was an old tree where court was held before the original courthouse was built.
We continued on to have lunch at Jerry Mikeska's Bar-B-Q while waiting on Dean to arrive. This restaurant has been in operation since 1987. The owner was a prolific hunter and I'm pretty sure he had taken aim at anything that moved. The walls were covered with stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. There was a couple of anemic polar bears greeting you at the door and some scrawny squirrels. BBQ was OK, nothing special. Jerry himself was wandering around the room, dressed in a bow tie.
We continued along I-10 past Sealy for the turn-off for Stephen F. Austin state park. Nearby is the original Anglo settlement in Texas, San Felipe de Austin, founded in 1824 by Stephen F. Austin and the Old 300. Nothing remains of the original town as it was burned by the settlers during the Texas war of Independence from Mexico just 11 years later.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around the park and spent the night camping. On the drive back to Austin the next day we visited a few more courthouses. First stop was Bellville in Austin county, just a short drive from the park. This courthouse was actually disappointing, it was a modern (ugly) block of a building. in the middle of a roundabout. We had a wander about town and came upon the much-more interesting old county jail, which was now a museum. Unfortunately my phone battery had just died as I'd been overusing the GPS... so didn't get any pictures here.
Brazos River, Stephen F. Austin Park
Next we drove through the town of Fayetteville, which was named after Fayetteville in North Carolina. There was an old wooden courthouse here, though this is not the county seat. There was also a historical marker describing the 'Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas', the Czech-Texas fraternal organization. Central Texas had large immigrations from central and Eastern Europe, and the food and names here still reflect that. The area around New Braunfels and Fredericksburg had large German immigrant populations.
Fayetteville, FAYETTE County
Old hotel, Fayetteville
La Grange, FAYETTE County
Next stop was La Grange, the county seat of Fayette county. I'd driven past La Grange dozens of times on SH71 but had never actually been to the town center. Today was Sunday so it was pretty dead. Despite also being completed in 1891, the courthouse was different style than the one in Columbus. The courthouse was designed by James Reily Gordon, who went on to design over a dozen Texas courthouses before gaining national fame. On the way out of town we stopped at Weikel's, another famous kolache bakery.
Bastrop, BASTROP County
Bastrop was our last stop on the way back to Austin. Along the way you can still see the damage from the huge forest fire that hit the area east of Bastrop during the severe drought in 2011. I'd been to Bastrop a few times but had never been by the courthouse. The courthouse was completed in 1883. The old (still in use) jail is next door, connected by a walkway.
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 23, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Nov 29, 2015, 10:51 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
A few weeks later, Mrs. and Miss hauteboy were planning a weeklong trip to Florida. The Travelers Century Club was having their meeting that weekend in Dallas. I figured that would be a great opportunity to go to the meeting and get a start on visiting courthouses. I booked a return AUS-DFW-AUS on Avios points. I planned to do a sweep of the northwest part of Texas, going east to Texarkana then back to Dallas over two days. I had found a listing of all the courthouses, with GPS coordinates and had loaded them into my google maps.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...4E&usp=sharing
Oct 10, 2015
Flight: Austin to Dallas; American Airlines economy
Distance driven: 200 miles
Counties visited: Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar, Red River, Bowie,
Hotel: Bostonian Motel; New Boston, TX
A very early start to the airport this morning to catch the 7AM flight up to Dallas. The weather looked gorgeously clear this weekend. Arrived about 8AM and caught the shuttle to the rental car center. I hadn't rented a car out of DFW in awhile so got confused heading out, but eventually got my bearings. The TCC meeting didn't start until 11AM so had a few hours to kill. I headed to downtown Dallas and was in Dealey plaza by 9:15AM. The 6th Floor museum wasn't yet open so I went down to the Old Red Courthouse, the massive Romanesque courthouse built in 1892. It has since been converted to a museum and the new modern courthouse is across the street.
Dallas, DALLAS County
I wandered around the museum for a bit before going to the JFK museum in the old Texas Schoolbook Depository. There was already a long line waiting before opening time at 10AM. I got tickets and managed to avoid the main crowd and kinda rushed through the museum as I had to leave for the 11AM TCC meeting.
The Travelers Century Club has a Texas chapter, they hold meetings a few times a year in Houston or Dallas. I've been to a few of the Houston meetings but this is the first time I'd been to the Dallas one. They were holding the metting in the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love field. I still had time to stop by Starbucks before arriving just in time. After the meeting was over about 2PM, I wandered around the museum for a few minutes. They had some interesting exhibits of old Braniff uniforms, a 'flying pancacke' and the Apollo 7 command module.
I started driving north towards McKinney and Sherman, where I would head east towards Texarkana. A bit of traffic heading up through Plano but then it thinned out and was smooth sailing. The weather was perfect for a road trip, bright blue cloudless sky.
McKinney, COLLIN County
McKinney was the next place I visited. This turned out to be the new modern (huge) courthouse right off the highway. I need to go back and see the original courthouse at some point, which now houses a performing arts center.
Sherman, GRAYSON County
Sherman was the next town, just a few miles south of the Oklahoma border. I'd never driven this far north in Texas before. The town looked like it had once been prosperous, but had fallen on harder times. The courthouse here was also a rather stark concrete building. A historical marker said the courthouse had burned down in 1930 and wasn't replaced until 6 years later due to the Depression. The plain architectural style of the courthouse also reflected the austere period of the Depression era. Around the courthouse square they were setting up for some sort of festival (Stroll on the Square) later that evening.
Bonham, FANNIN County
From Sherman, I turned east on US82 towards Bonham. This was a smaller town than Sherman and apparently their county fair was going on today! I drove past it but it looked pretty small. The courthouse here was also the smallest I had yet visited. It had a plain style. The original courthouse was built in 1889 but the clock tower was destroyed in a 1929 fire and never rebuilt.
Part of the appeal of the roadtrips is taking trips through the small towns. I kept to one of the back roads through farming communities before rejoining US82 before my next stop, Paris! (Texas, that is)
Paris, LAMAR County
Bonjour! Paris, Texas may not be quite as cosmopolitan as its namesake, but it was the largest town so far I'd seen since leaving Dallas. The courthouse here was located a couple of blocks off the main square and remodeled/rebuilt after a fire in 1917. The outer pink granite was salvaged from the previous courthouse.
Clarksville, RED RIVER County
It was getting pretty late in the afternoon by the time I reached the sleepy town of Clarksville, county seat of Red River county. This is one of the oldest original courthouses I had visited so far, built in 1885 in Italian Renaissance design. There wasn't much going on in town so decided to push on to New Boston.
Arrived here just after sunset, so decided to spend the night here and see the courthouse in the morning. Picked the New Bostonian inn, nothing much for $45/nt but was clean and had good free wifi. Went out for dinner at a BBQ place and passed by the very ugly modern courthouse, just off of I-30. Too dark for photos though.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...4E&usp=sharing
Oct 10, 2015
Flight: Austin to Dallas; American Airlines economy
Distance driven: 200 miles
Counties visited: Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar, Red River, Bowie,
Hotel: Bostonian Motel; New Boston, TX
A very early start to the airport this morning to catch the 7AM flight up to Dallas. The weather looked gorgeously clear this weekend. Arrived about 8AM and caught the shuttle to the rental car center. I hadn't rented a car out of DFW in awhile so got confused heading out, but eventually got my bearings. The TCC meeting didn't start until 11AM so had a few hours to kill. I headed to downtown Dallas and was in Dealey plaza by 9:15AM. The 6th Floor museum wasn't yet open so I went down to the Old Red Courthouse, the massive Romanesque courthouse built in 1892. It has since been converted to a museum and the new modern courthouse is across the street.
Dallas, DALLAS County
I wandered around the museum for a bit before going to the JFK museum in the old Texas Schoolbook Depository. There was already a long line waiting before opening time at 10AM. I got tickets and managed to avoid the main crowd and kinda rushed through the museum as I had to leave for the 11AM TCC meeting.
The Travelers Century Club has a Texas chapter, they hold meetings a few times a year in Houston or Dallas. I've been to a few of the Houston meetings but this is the first time I'd been to the Dallas one. They were holding the metting in the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love field. I still had time to stop by Starbucks before arriving just in time. After the meeting was over about 2PM, I wandered around the museum for a few minutes. They had some interesting exhibits of old Braniff uniforms, a 'flying pancacke' and the Apollo 7 command module.
I started driving north towards McKinney and Sherman, where I would head east towards Texarkana. A bit of traffic heading up through Plano but then it thinned out and was smooth sailing. The weather was perfect for a road trip, bright blue cloudless sky.
McKinney, COLLIN County
McKinney was the next place I visited. This turned out to be the new modern (huge) courthouse right off the highway. I need to go back and see the original courthouse at some point, which now houses a performing arts center.
Sherman, GRAYSON County
Sherman was the next town, just a few miles south of the Oklahoma border. I'd never driven this far north in Texas before. The town looked like it had once been prosperous, but had fallen on harder times. The courthouse here was also a rather stark concrete building. A historical marker said the courthouse had burned down in 1930 and wasn't replaced until 6 years later due to the Depression. The plain architectural style of the courthouse also reflected the austere period of the Depression era. Around the courthouse square they were setting up for some sort of festival (Stroll on the Square) later that evening.
Bonham, FANNIN County
From Sherman, I turned east on US82 towards Bonham. This was a smaller town than Sherman and apparently their county fair was going on today! I drove past it but it looked pretty small. The courthouse here was also the smallest I had yet visited. It had a plain style. The original courthouse was built in 1889 but the clock tower was destroyed in a 1929 fire and never rebuilt.
Part of the appeal of the roadtrips is taking trips through the small towns. I kept to one of the back roads through farming communities before rejoining US82 before my next stop, Paris! (Texas, that is)
Paris, LAMAR County
Bonjour! Paris, Texas may not be quite as cosmopolitan as its namesake, but it was the largest town so far I'd seen since leaving Dallas. The courthouse here was located a couple of blocks off the main square and remodeled/rebuilt after a fire in 1917. The outer pink granite was salvaged from the previous courthouse.
Clarksville, RED RIVER County
It was getting pretty late in the afternoon by the time I reached the sleepy town of Clarksville, county seat of Red River county. This is one of the oldest original courthouses I had visited so far, built in 1885 in Italian Renaissance design. There wasn't much going on in town so decided to push on to New Boston.
Arrived here just after sunset, so decided to spend the night here and see the courthouse in the morning. Picked the New Bostonian inn, nothing much for $45/nt but was clean and had good free wifi. Went out for dinner at a BBQ place and passed by the very ugly modern courthouse, just off of I-30. Too dark for photos though.
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 7:36 am
Nov 30, 2015, 12:26 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Oct 11-12, 2015
Flight: Dallas to Austin; American Airlines economy
Distance driven: 325 miles
Counties visited: Cass, Marion, Morris, Camp, Titus, Franklin, Hopkins, Delta, Hunt, Rockwall
Today was a crazy day, with planned stops in 10 counties as I drove back to Dallas. I also thought about getting a very early start and driving to Texarkana. Arkanasas is the only state I don't remember visiting (I was 1 yr old) and the main post office/federal courthouse is the only building shared between two states! I couldn't pass on that opportunity.
New Boston, BOWIE County
I stopped by the ugly courthouse this morning. The ugly modern building was built in 1985. Outside was a statue of James Bowie (of Alamo fame, and correcly pronounced Boo-wee not Boh-wee), co-dedicated by then-governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. I drove straight into the rising sun and arrived in Texarkana just before 8AM.
Texarkana Federal Building/Post Office.
Linden, CASS County
Linden was the next county seat to visit. It took about an hour to drive from Texarkana, after taking a wrong turn towards Louisiana! Sunday morning in a Texas small town so nothing was open. The courthouse here is the oldest courthouse still in use, built in 1861, though remodeled since then.
Jefferson, MARION County
I continued along to Jefferson which was a quick 20 minute drive. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by Jefferson. I hadn't done really any research for this trip other than where the courthouses were located. Turns out Jefferson used to be an old steamship port and one of the wealthiest towns in Texas before the railroads came. The Red River used to have a huge 'raft' of dead trees that formed a dam and lake deep enough to navigate this far inland. Once the barrage was dynamited and the railroads passed it by, the town fell into obscurity. It's since found a renaissance as a tourist town though. There were lots of bikers here in town. The museum also was a surprise in the gorgeous old Federal courthouse building. Only spent about 40 minutes in town and definitely worth a revisit!
Daingerfield, MORRIS County
Daingerfield was a 40-minute drive away. I passed right by the courthouse at first as it was a new modern building that looks more like a warehouse! I went into town to see if I could find the original courthouse. The town was pretty tiny, just a few blocks wide. There was an old school theater here. The town has some notoriety... there was a mass shooting in 1980, in a church no less, where 5 people were killed by a former schoolteacher.
Pittsburg, CAMP County
Pittsburg (no h) was the next town to visit, another 20 minutes drive from Daingerfield. This town seemed to be a bit more successful. The local sports team was not surprising the 'Pittsburg Pirates'. The town used to be the headquarters for Pilgrims Pride chicken. I passed by their factory as I was heading north out of town.
Mt. Pleasant, TITUS County
Mt. Pleasant was the biggest town I'd been in since Texarkana. I was getting hungry by this point but the few places I checked were closed on Sundays. The courthouse here was similar to the one in Fannin county, a plain grey boxy building.
Mt. Vernon, FRANKLIN County
Took US67 to Mt. Vernon, seat of Franklin county. There was a gorgeous stretch just outside of Mt. Pleasant with fields of flowers. The 1912 courthouse here was quite pretty. Still no real options here for eating. There was the usual McD's on the interstate but I was wanting to keep to US67 as far as I could.
Sulphur Springs, HOPKINS County
Reached Sulphur Springs about 1PM. The courthouse here was absolutely gorgeous, built of red and pink granite and sandstone in Richardson Romanesque style. The architect was James Reily Gordon, the same one who had designed La Grange courthouse. Unlike most other Texas towns, the courthouse was at the corner of the main square vs in the center. There was a cajun restaurant across the street where I grabbed a bowl of spicy gumbo for lunch. There were also some 'see-through' bathrooms located on the main square. Mirrored on the outside so you (supposedly) can't see in. I just had to try it!
From Sulphur Springs I had two options.. Cooper was the next county seat, but I had done some more research and realized I'd missed the Eiffel tower replica when I was in Paris yesterday... 'only' a 40-mile detour back to Paris. The replica had a cowboy hat on top of it, so how could I pass that up? Took about 35 minutes for the drive back up to Paris, then another 20 minutes to Cooper.
Deja Vu, Paris, Texas, Y'All
Cooper, DELTA County
Cooper was another sleepy town, nothing going on at all on the main square. The courthouse was a block or two west of the square and was also fairly plain, built in 1941.
Greenville, HUNT County
On the way from Cooper I passed through Commerce, TX where I picked up an ice cream from Sonic. The towns were getting bigger the closer I got to Dallas. Greenville was the next town over. The current courthouse from 1928 was the 7th courthouse to be built! The others had either moved, burned down, or were demolished.
Rockwall, ROCKWALL County
My last courthouse stop! Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas. The old historic courthouse was built in 1940 but is already too small due to growth, the new courthouse (2011) is a massive domed building not far off of I-30.
Texas State Fair
Fried PeanutButter&Jelly sandwich
Somehow I still had energy left, and still had a few hours of daylight left (it was about 4:30PM as I left Rockwall), so I decided to go to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. It was pretty warm, 95 degrees even after 5PM as I reached the fairgrounds. The state fair was a crazy mess, totally packed but tons of stuff to see and do. They were passing out free pudding at one of the entrances. I wandered up to the Cotton Bowl in search of the Big Tex statue. Kept wandering around until I found the main stage where the Beach Boys were playing. I was roasting in the heat so found some shade before going off to try some of the 'food'. Basically think of anything and they will deep fry it. PeanutButter&Jelly sandwich, Lobster tails, Pecan pie, Lemonade, etc. I tried the PB&J, it was a carb-fest but quite good... the peanut butter was melted and gooey.
I took the skytram back across the midway to avoid the crowds. It broke down while I was up there and we sat for 10 minutes or so before it started again! I headed to the exits to get ahead of the exodus before the fair closed that evening. Managed to find my car in the huge parking lot (I'd gps tagged it on my phone!).
I don't know how I still had energy, but I then went to Hard Rock cafe in downtown to get a shirt. My flight didn't leave til very early the next morning but I wasn't sure about getting a hotel or not. Ended up sleeping in the car for a bit before driving to the airport about 1AM and sleeping in the car some more before catching my 6AM flight! Flight back to Austin was OK and I headed straight into work.
Flight: Dallas to Austin; American Airlines economy
Distance driven: 325 miles
Counties visited: Cass, Marion, Morris, Camp, Titus, Franklin, Hopkins, Delta, Hunt, Rockwall
Today was a crazy day, with planned stops in 10 counties as I drove back to Dallas. I also thought about getting a very early start and driving to Texarkana. Arkanasas is the only state I don't remember visiting (I was 1 yr old) and the main post office/federal courthouse is the only building shared between two states! I couldn't pass on that opportunity.
New Boston, BOWIE County
I stopped by the ugly courthouse this morning. The ugly modern building was built in 1985. Outside was a statue of James Bowie (of Alamo fame, and correcly pronounced Boo-wee not Boh-wee), co-dedicated by then-governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. I drove straight into the rising sun and arrived in Texarkana just before 8AM.
Texarkana Federal Building/Post Office.
Linden, CASS County
Linden was the next county seat to visit. It took about an hour to drive from Texarkana, after taking a wrong turn towards Louisiana! Sunday morning in a Texas small town so nothing was open. The courthouse here is the oldest courthouse still in use, built in 1861, though remodeled since then.
Jefferson, MARION County
I continued along to Jefferson which was a quick 20 minute drive. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by Jefferson. I hadn't done really any research for this trip other than where the courthouses were located. Turns out Jefferson used to be an old steamship port and one of the wealthiest towns in Texas before the railroads came. The Red River used to have a huge 'raft' of dead trees that formed a dam and lake deep enough to navigate this far inland. Once the barrage was dynamited and the railroads passed it by, the town fell into obscurity. It's since found a renaissance as a tourist town though. There were lots of bikers here in town. The museum also was a surprise in the gorgeous old Federal courthouse building. Only spent about 40 minutes in town and definitely worth a revisit!
Daingerfield, MORRIS County
Daingerfield was a 40-minute drive away. I passed right by the courthouse at first as it was a new modern building that looks more like a warehouse! I went into town to see if I could find the original courthouse. The town was pretty tiny, just a few blocks wide. There was an old school theater here. The town has some notoriety... there was a mass shooting in 1980, in a church no less, where 5 people were killed by a former schoolteacher.
Pittsburg, CAMP County
Pittsburg (no h) was the next town to visit, another 20 minutes drive from Daingerfield. This town seemed to be a bit more successful. The local sports team was not surprising the 'Pittsburg Pirates'. The town used to be the headquarters for Pilgrims Pride chicken. I passed by their factory as I was heading north out of town.
Mt. Pleasant, TITUS County
Mt. Pleasant was the biggest town I'd been in since Texarkana. I was getting hungry by this point but the few places I checked were closed on Sundays. The courthouse here was similar to the one in Fannin county, a plain grey boxy building.
Mt. Vernon, FRANKLIN County
Took US67 to Mt. Vernon, seat of Franklin county. There was a gorgeous stretch just outside of Mt. Pleasant with fields of flowers. The 1912 courthouse here was quite pretty. Still no real options here for eating. There was the usual McD's on the interstate but I was wanting to keep to US67 as far as I could.
Sulphur Springs, HOPKINS County
Reached Sulphur Springs about 1PM. The courthouse here was absolutely gorgeous, built of red and pink granite and sandstone in Richardson Romanesque style. The architect was James Reily Gordon, the same one who had designed La Grange courthouse. Unlike most other Texas towns, the courthouse was at the corner of the main square vs in the center. There was a cajun restaurant across the street where I grabbed a bowl of spicy gumbo for lunch. There were also some 'see-through' bathrooms located on the main square. Mirrored on the outside so you (supposedly) can't see in. I just had to try it!
From Sulphur Springs I had two options.. Cooper was the next county seat, but I had done some more research and realized I'd missed the Eiffel tower replica when I was in Paris yesterday... 'only' a 40-mile detour back to Paris. The replica had a cowboy hat on top of it, so how could I pass that up? Took about 35 minutes for the drive back up to Paris, then another 20 minutes to Cooper.
Deja Vu, Paris, Texas, Y'All
Cooper, DELTA County
Cooper was another sleepy town, nothing going on at all on the main square. The courthouse was a block or two west of the square and was also fairly plain, built in 1941.
Greenville, HUNT County
On the way from Cooper I passed through Commerce, TX where I picked up an ice cream from Sonic. The towns were getting bigger the closer I got to Dallas. Greenville was the next town over. The current courthouse from 1928 was the 7th courthouse to be built! The others had either moved, burned down, or were demolished.
Rockwall, ROCKWALL County
My last courthouse stop! Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas. The old historic courthouse was built in 1940 but is already too small due to growth, the new courthouse (2011) is a massive domed building not far off of I-30.
Texas State Fair
Fried PeanutButter&Jelly sandwich
Somehow I still had energy left, and still had a few hours of daylight left (it was about 4:30PM as I left Rockwall), so I decided to go to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. It was pretty warm, 95 degrees even after 5PM as I reached the fairgrounds. The state fair was a crazy mess, totally packed but tons of stuff to see and do. They were passing out free pudding at one of the entrances. I wandered up to the Cotton Bowl in search of the Big Tex statue. Kept wandering around until I found the main stage where the Beach Boys were playing. I was roasting in the heat so found some shade before going off to try some of the 'food'. Basically think of anything and they will deep fry it. PeanutButter&Jelly sandwich, Lobster tails, Pecan pie, Lemonade, etc. I tried the PB&J, it was a carb-fest but quite good... the peanut butter was melted and gooey.
I took the skytram back across the midway to avoid the crowds. It broke down while I was up there and we sat for 10 minutes or so before it started again! I headed to the exits to get ahead of the exodus before the fair closed that evening. Managed to find my car in the huge parking lot (I'd gps tagged it on my phone!).
I don't know how I still had energy, but I then went to Hard Rock cafe in downtown to get a shirt. My flight didn't leave til very early the next morning but I wasn't sure about getting a hotel or not. Ended up sleeping in the car for a bit before driving to the airport about 1AM and sleeping in the car some more before catching my 6AM flight! Flight back to Austin was OK and I headed straight into work.
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 7:37 am
Nov 30, 2015, 8:13 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
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Nov 30, 2015, 10:02 am
#10
Join Date: Aug 2004
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[QUOTE=hauteboy;25788532][b]
We continued on to have lunch at Jerry Mikeska's Bar-B-Q while waiting on Dean to arrive. This restaurant has been in operation since 1987. The owner was a prolific hunter and I'm pretty sure he had taken aim at anything that moved. The walls were covered with stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. There was a couple of anemic polar bears greeting you at the door and some scrawny squirrels. BBQ was OK, nothing special. Jerry himself was wandering around the room, dressed in a bow tie.
QUOTE]
I've eaten here before while running the 10. There is a Mikeska's BBQ off of US59/future Interstate 69 in El Campo that I've also eaten at.
We continued on to have lunch at Jerry Mikeska's Bar-B-Q while waiting on Dean to arrive. This restaurant has been in operation since 1987. The owner was a prolific hunter and I'm pretty sure he had taken aim at anything that moved. The walls were covered with stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. There was a couple of anemic polar bears greeting you at the door and some scrawny squirrels. BBQ was OK, nothing special. Jerry himself was wandering around the room, dressed in a bow tie.
QUOTE]
I've eaten here before while running the 10. There is a Mikeska's BBQ off of US59/future Interstate 69 in El Campo that I've also eaten at.
Nov 30, 2015, 10:19 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,728
Once you've finished all your Texas courthouses, if you'd like to see more of the US, what about a trip to all the Paris (what's the plural of Paris?), Londons, etc in the US? Seems you've already got a start on that.
Nov 30, 2015, 11:48 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Oct 13, 2015
Distance driven: 230 miles
Counties visited: Williamson, Bell, McLennan, Falls, Milam (26/254)
Georgetown, WILLIAMSON County
I finished with work early today, and since mrs and miss hauteboy were still out of town, I had my evening free. The weather was another gorgeous sunny and cloudless day. Decided to do another courthouse run and headed up north I-35 just before 4PM. First stop was Georgetown. It's becoming essentially a suburb of Austin these days, though more conservative. I'd passed through Georgetown many times but had never gone by the town square. Compared to some of the smaller towns in northeast Texas, the town square here was vibrant and busy. The courthouse here dates from 1911 in Classical Revival style. There was a historical marker describing the successful court cases against the KKK that took place in the 1920s.
Belton, BELL County
Belton was about a 45-minute drive up I35. Luckily there wasn't too much traffic. I'd never been to Belton before either, other than passing through driving to Dallas. The 1885 courthouse was a gorgeous white Renaissance Revival building. The clock tower was removed in the 1950s but rebuilt in 1999.
Waco, McLENNAN County
I35 seems to be continuously under construction.. the next segment to Waco was being expanded to three lanes. Speed limit is now 70 or 75mph which is crazy when going between concrete barriers. The 1902 courthouse was also designed by James Reily Gordon, though the style is very different from his other designs. Waco is home to the Texas Rangers Museum and is the birthplace of Dr. Pepper. Baylor University is in Waco.
Marlin, FALLS County
It was getting late so turned southeast in a loop back to Austin. First stop was Marlin, county seat of Falls County. I'd actually passed through Marlin just a few months before. The population here peaked in 1980 and has been in steady decline since then. The movie Infamous with Sandra Bullock was partially filmed here.
Cameron, MILAM County
I was racing to make the last town before sunset. Arrived in Cameron at 7PM just in time to catch the last light on the 1891 courthouse, the 4th for the county. Nearby was the 1895 couty jail, red brick and Romanesque style.
It was 80 miles back to Austin and it seemed like the drive took forever. I came down through the towns Rockdale, Thrall and Taylor. I was pretty hungry at this point, but there wasn't anything open in the small towns. There was a famous BBQ, Louie Mueller in Taylor but they were also closed. I found a place that was open under the train tracks, the Taylor Cafe, which turned out to be an old shack filled with locals. They'd just stopped serving food though, so kept on driving. I figured I'd go onto the Salt Lick in Round Rock as they were open until 9:30PM.
Made it to Salt Lick just in time to get some delicious 'cue! I love their sauce.
Distance driven: 230 miles
Counties visited: Williamson, Bell, McLennan, Falls, Milam (26/254)
Georgetown, WILLIAMSON County
I finished with work early today, and since mrs and miss hauteboy were still out of town, I had my evening free. The weather was another gorgeous sunny and cloudless day. Decided to do another courthouse run and headed up north I-35 just before 4PM. First stop was Georgetown. It's becoming essentially a suburb of Austin these days, though more conservative. I'd passed through Georgetown many times but had never gone by the town square. Compared to some of the smaller towns in northeast Texas, the town square here was vibrant and busy. The courthouse here dates from 1911 in Classical Revival style. There was a historical marker describing the successful court cases against the KKK that took place in the 1920s.
Belton, BELL County
Belton was about a 45-minute drive up I35. Luckily there wasn't too much traffic. I'd never been to Belton before either, other than passing through driving to Dallas. The 1885 courthouse was a gorgeous white Renaissance Revival building. The clock tower was removed in the 1950s but rebuilt in 1999.
Waco, McLENNAN County
I35 seems to be continuously under construction.. the next segment to Waco was being expanded to three lanes. Speed limit is now 70 or 75mph which is crazy when going between concrete barriers. The 1902 courthouse was also designed by James Reily Gordon, though the style is very different from his other designs. Waco is home to the Texas Rangers Museum and is the birthplace of Dr. Pepper. Baylor University is in Waco.
Marlin, FALLS County
It was getting late so turned southeast in a loop back to Austin. First stop was Marlin, county seat of Falls County. I'd actually passed through Marlin just a few months before. The population here peaked in 1980 and has been in steady decline since then. The movie Infamous with Sandra Bullock was partially filmed here.
Cameron, MILAM County
I was racing to make the last town before sunset. Arrived in Cameron at 7PM just in time to catch the last light on the 1891 courthouse, the 4th for the county. Nearby was the 1895 couty jail, red brick and Romanesque style.
It was 80 miles back to Austin and it seemed like the drive took forever. I came down through the towns Rockdale, Thrall and Taylor. I was pretty hungry at this point, but there wasn't anything open in the small towns. There was a famous BBQ, Louie Mueller in Taylor but they were also closed. I found a place that was open under the train tracks, the Taylor Cafe, which turned out to be an old shack filled with locals. They'd just stopped serving food though, so kept on driving. I figured I'd go onto the Salt Lick in Round Rock as they were open until 9:30PM.
Made it to Salt Lick just in time to get some delicious 'cue! I love their sauce.
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 7:40 am
Dec 1, 2015, 9:06 pm
#15
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Let me check my Logbook
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Has anyone in law enforcement given you any trouble over photographing courthouses (government buildings)?