|
|
The Brazos
County Courthouse Cedar
Bryan,
Texas by John Troesser
"Cedar tree, how big it's grown!" - Bobby Goldsboro
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
Bryan
Hotels > |
This
is not a tree that Joyce Kilmer would've praised - it's not one that
the village blacksmith would seek the shade of. It hanged no one -
even in effigy. In fact it looks as if it was the nearest tree to
a chainsaw demonstration booth at a lumberjack's convention.
Why is it historic? Politics. Why do we write about it? Because like
a childhood pet (or a younger sibling) it's so ugly it's cute.
The Bryan Courthouse Cedar is a fine example of arboreal tenacity.
Its longevity however is directly tied to its location. If it didn't
grow directly in front of the courthouse it would've been a fence
post long ago. It has outlived four courthouses so far and we hope
it will outlive the one it currently shares space with. |
|
|
Courthouse
Cedar, September 2001
© John Troesser |
|
Our story finally
begins:
In 1841 when Navasota County (later to become Brazos
County) was created, the tiny tree was growing alongside the
cabin of Joseph Ferguson, near the Navasota River. This cabin
served as the first county courthouse since it was there that the
first court convened and where county officials were first elected.
The Ferguson cabin didn't have a floor plan amenable to such a crush
of politicians. Many went home imprinted by the belt buckles of
their political colleagues. So a new courthouse was planned for
a new county seat of government - in Boonville.
Politicians were measured and the cabin was built to accommodate
their collective girth.
The little cedar missed out on this courthouse and in juvenile
bliss added a few growth rings to its trunk back at the Ferguson
cabin.
The Texas Congress in 1842 changed the county name from
Navasota to Brazos - just to make things difficult
for geography teachers.
A frame courthouse was built in 1846 (also in Boonville)
and in 1854 we get back to the story of our featured tree.
Since the 1846 building had been used from everything from dances
to hog-scaldings, they added a second story when they built the
new one.
Enter Colonel Harvey Mitchell. The Colonel was called "The
Father of Brazos County" by almost everyone. (Except for his children
who simply called him Daddy.) The Colonel took it upon himself to
have trees and shrubs planted around the new courthouse and went
so far as to include the little fellow from the Ferguson cabin who
was still in saplinghood.
When Bryan superseded Boonville as county seat in 1866
the tree stayed where it was - gathering strength for future transplanting.
1870 saw Brazos County erecting it's fourth courthouse -
on the site where today's current (6th) courthouse stands. Colonel
Mitchell had the cedar transplanted again. After 20-some years -
the fourth courthouse started showing it's age and civil servants
started disappearing from their second story offices. It was found
that they were "slipping through the cracks" - literally.
In the early 1890s - they took bids on a new courthouse (the
5th) and an architect named Eugene Heiner won the commission.
Heiner designed many Texas Courthouses, although the only one extant
is in Hallettsville.
|
|
|
The
1892 (razed) Brazos County Courthouse by Eugene Heiner
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT |
There
is a custom of turning historic trees into gavels upon their death.
The inherent brittleness of cedar would prevent this tree from being
used for that purpose, but it is entirely possible (especially considering
the practicality of Texans) that upon retiring, some future Brazos
County Judge might receive a real nice varnished fence post with a
small brass plaque.
© John Troesser
See The
Brazos County Courthouse - next page
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
Bryan
Hotels >
Since September 2001 |
|
|
