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The "new" Potter County Courthouse (Potter County Courts Building.)
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
The Present
Potter County Courthouse"This
modern-style, concrete and steel building was built between 1984 and 1986 and
designed by architects Hucker & Pargé, A.I.A. and Ward-Brown Associates, A.I.A."
- Terry
Jeanson
Robert Potter was a Secretary of the Texas Navy
and was Commander in charge of Galveston.
The Spanish gave Amarillo its name, by naming
a nearby creek for the Spanish word for yellow. |
Historical
Marker on courthouse grounds - 500 block of S. Taylor St.: Establishing
of Potter CountyNamed
for Robert Potter, Secretary of the Navy (1836) and Senator (1840-42) of the Republic
of Texas. In territory ranged by Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa
Indians, and since 1600 familiar to Spanish military parties and French traders.
On established routes of the Great Spanish Road from Santa Fe to San
Antonio (1786) and the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail of 1840 which was followed
in 1849 by California gold seekers. Although still uninhabited, the county was
created in 1876 by Texas Legislature. The years 1874-78 saw Indians expelled and
buffalo
replaced by longhorns.
In 1877 the famous LX Ranch was established, with headquarters 20 miles north
of this site. The Frying Pan, first large ranch fenced with barbed
wire, in 1881 built its headquarters 16 miles to the west. Railroad
construction across the Texas Panhandle
made local government desirable. LX and Frying Pan cowboys were the electors who
voted on Aug. 30, 1887, to organize Potter County. This county was discovery site
(1918) of the vast Panhandle-Hugoton Gas Field. It is noted as location of Alibates
National Monument (established 1965), an aboriginal flint quarry, with ruins of
prehistoric Indian villages inhabited as early as 10,000 B.C.
(1970). |
1936 Centennial
Marker:
Potter
County
Formed
from Young and Bexar Territories; Created August 21, 1876; Organized August 30,
1887; Named in Honor of Robert Potter 1800-1842; Signer of the Declaration of
Independence; Secretary of the Navy; Senator in the Texas Congress, 1840; Amarillo,
County Seat |
1932
Potter County Courthouse |
Date: 1932
Architect: W.C. Townes of Townes, Lightfoot and Funk
of Amarillo
Styl: Art Deco
Material: Concrete
and terra cotta
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
West side of the 1932 Potter County courthouse facing Taylor Street
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
Historical
Marker - 501 South Taylor, Amarillo:
Potter County Courthouse
Organized
in August 1887, Potter County erected its first courthouse in 1888 in old town
Amarillo. The building was constructed by Mays,
Hightower, and Jackson for a cost of $191. Over the years, three more courthouses
were built as Amarillo and Potter County grew.
During the 1920's the Panhandle experienced
an oil boom. As a result, business increased, the population of Amarillo
nearly tripled, and eight sky scrapers
were added to the city.
The fifth courthouse in Potter County, this building
was designed by Architect W.C. Townes of Townes, Lightfoot and Funk of Amarillo.
It was constructed at a cost of $420,000 in 1930-32 by Amarillo
builder Charles Lambie. More than 500 laborers, residents of Potter County, applied
to work on building the new courthouse.
The Potter County Courthouse is
a fine local example of an art deco style institutional building. It exhibits
stepped massing from its entrance pavilion to the top of the tower, and skillful
use of details that include ornamental figural and botanical bas relief, symmetrical
pilasters and metal casement windows.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996 |
 |
The East side of the courthouse facing Fillmore Street.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
"Blloming Cactus" over the Potter County Courthouse entrance
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
|
"The top of the central section on the north side depicts the heads of wolves,
also duplicated on the south side. The windows with the bars denotes the location
of the former county jail which was in use until 1988." - Terry
Jeanson, 2008 photo |
"The top of the central section on the west side depicts a pioneer, two baying
wolves and an Indian. These figures are duplicated on the east side as well."
-
Terry
Jeanson, 2008 photo |
|
"The west and east side (show here) entrances have Art-Deco style chandeliers
and cast-aluminum Longhorns over the doors." - Terry
Jeanson, 2008 photo |
1932 Potter County Courthouse Entrance
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
Photographer's Note:
The
west and east side (shown here) entrances have three panels over the doors with
a written dedication. The middle panel reads, "To the Early Settlers of This County,
This Building is Respectfully Dedicated." The left panel reads, "Their Efforts
were Tireless," and the right panel reads "Their Courage was Undaunted."
-
Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
Potter County Courthouse as it appear in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
| Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
| |
Postmaster tells Chicago Doctor
about Amarillo's Courthouse Change:
"This building has been replaced
by a new and very modern eight story courthouse." - (signed) Postmaster,
Amarillo, Texas
Another view of the 1932 Potter County Courthouse
TE
postcard archive | | |
1906
Potter County Courthouse |
1906
Potter County Courthouse
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
|
1906
Potter County Courthouse
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
|
1906
Potter County courthouse (left)
and the 1922 Potter County library (right)
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, 2008 |
Photographer's
Note:
"This photo of the 1906 Potter County courthouse (left) and the
1922 Potter County library (right) was taken in 1924 and is hanging in the first
floor hallway of the 1932 courthouse. In 1915, the dome on the 1906 courthouse
was removed and a fourth floor was added. The clocks from the removed dome were
placed in the middle part of the roof on the sides of the building as seen in
this picture." - Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
1896
Potter County Courthouse |
Photographer's Note:
This
drawing of the 1896 Potter County courthouse is hanging in the first floor hallway
of the 1932 courthouse.
The caption below the drawing reads as follows:
This building is courthouse
number three (3.) It was built in 1896 and is located at 5th and Bowie. It still
stands today. The tower and third floor have been removed and the building has
been used by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in the past. - Terry
Jeanson, March 2008
Amarillo
Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
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