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Edwards County
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2008 |
Date: 1891
Architect: Ben Davey & Bruno Schott
Style: Romanesque Revival
Material: Stone |
EDWARDS COUNTY
COURTHOUSES
By Terry
Jeanson
Edwards County
was named for Nacogdoches settler and empresario Haden Edwards, who,
with his brother Benjamin, led the short-lived Fredonian Rebellion
against the Mexican government in 1826-27. The county was formed in
1858 but not officially organized until 1883 with the town of Bullhead,
later renamed Vance, designated
as the county seat. By the following year, the county seat was moved
to the town of Leakey. (Leakey
would later become the county seat of Real
County when that county was organized in 1913.) According to the
Texas historical commission, the first courthouse was constructed
in 1883. It burned in Leakey
on July 10, 1888.
In 1891, a new, more centrally located site was selected for the county
seat. The town that was founded was named Rocksprings
(originally Rock Springs) after the natural springs that bubbled forth
from the crevices of the rocks in Llano Canyon. A local town store
served as the courthouse until the current courthouse was built. Designed
and built by Ben Davey and Bruno Schott of Kerrville,
it was constructed in 1891 with native limestone in a vague Romanesque
Revival style. Almost square in shape, the hipped roof had Mansard
cupolas over the north and south side entrances, a balcony, and stone
arches over the windows. On December 23, 1898 (sources often mistakenly
give the year as 1897) the courthouse was gutted by a fire, leaving
only the outer walls, and these details were lost. The original architects
rebuilt the courthouse the following year. Stone gables with carved,
foliated designs replaced the Mansard roofs and simple lintels over
the windows replaced the stone arches. The building has wooden two
over two windows and wooden doors with wooden fanlight transoms and
stone voussoirs over the transoms. On April 12, 1927, a tornado, which
devastated most of the town, destroyed the courthouse's roof which
was later repaired. The courthouse itself was one of the few buildings
in town left standing.
Although the exterior was mostly untouched, modern renovations over
the years had drastically changed the interior of the courthouse.
In 2010, Edwards
County received a restoration planning grant of nearly $100,000
followed by a grant of over $1 million in 2012 towards an historic
restoration of the building to its 1898 post-fire condition. New cement
floors were poured and the wooden window frames, doors, fanlights
and staircase wainscoting were restored and/or replicated. An 1898
courthouse bench was used as a model for the replicated bench seating
in the courtroom. Several original 1898 pieces in the courtroom still
exist and were restored, including the judge's bench, an attorney's
table, several of the chairs and the balustrade between the judge's
bench and the gallery. The courthouse also received modern electrical,
plumbing and environmental systems along with the building's first
elevator. The restoration was completed and a rededication ceremony
was held on July 5, 2014. - Terry
Jeanson
Sources:
The Courthouses of Texas by Mavis P.Kelsey Sr. and Donald H. Dyal,
2nd edition, 2007,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocksprings,_Texas,
The Handbook of Texas Online,
The Texas Historical Commission's Texas Historic Sites Atlas at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-county.htm
and
the Texas National Register Program Narrative at http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-desig.htm |
 |
Edwards
County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Vintage photo courtesy TXDoT |
Poster showing
the courthouse with its original features ca. 1891
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2014 |
Edwards County
Courthouse historical marker
Photo courtesy William
Beauchamp, June 2009 |
Edwards County
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2014 |
Edwards County
Courthouse (Rear, NE corner)
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2014 |
Courthouse hallway
looking north
(before restoration.)
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2006 |
Courthouse hallway
looking north
(after restoration.)
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2014 |
Distric courtroom
before restoration
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January, 2006 |
Distric courtroom
after restoration
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2014 |
Edwards County
Courthouse winter view
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2008 |
Gable over the
Edwards County Courthouse entrance
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, January 2008 |
Photographer's
Note:
Notice shoe scrapers for scraping mud off before entering the courthouse.
Early dirt streets made this very practicle in the early years! -
William
Beauchamp |
Devil's
Sinkhole Tour Bus at Rocksprings' Visitors Center
Photo courtesy William
Beauchamp, June 2009 |
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Home to 1 to 4
million Mexican-Free tail bats The Devils Sinkhole can be found
8 miles NE of Rocksprings Texas and is accessable through approved
tours which start at the visitors center at the Courthouse Square.-
William
Beauchamp, June 2009 |
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