Texas County Courthouses

With the posting of these far western counties, we can announce the project as completed. The goal was travel all of Texas – even the remotest of counties and we met that goal

These counties represented the highs and lows of Texas County Courthouses. Some of the towns are bustling and alive with activity – while others are just hanging on. This area contains the Permian Basin – and all that black gold. There are mountains and deserts – but not a lot of lakes.

If you’re short on time – THE TOP COURTHOUSES on this trip included: Presidio County, Jeff Davis County, Brewster County, Crockett County and a restored Glasscock County. Other counties visited include: El Paso, Hudspeth, Midland, Ector, Pecos, Upton, Andrews, Martin, Loving, Ward, Reeves, Winkler, Crane, and Culberson.

But of course, that’s not all to be seen. As usual, we captured some of the old jails in film – including: Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, and Martin county jails.

Most of the towns we visited were not particularly ‘photogenic’ – we did take some pics in a few of them so that you could get a flavor of West Texas. Some were kind of wasting away – while others seemed to be doing quite well. The towns included are: Mentone, Odessa, Stanton, Marfa, Alpine, Sierra Blanca, Ft. Davis, Van Horn, El Paso and Ozona.

We also visited Bush’s Boyhood Home in Midland, the Odessa Meteor Crater, and Ft. Davis National Monument.

Last, but not least, this was West Texas with a tremendous amount of driving. So, I’ve included photos grouped by sections of the trip. There is: The Drive to Odessa, The Drive to Van Horn, The Drive to Alpine, Alpine to Ft. Davis, and The Drive from Alpine to Sonora. I especially like the photos of the trailer flat tire in the middle of almost nowhere!!

A little over a month an a half ago, we completed our tour of the upper Panhandle of Texas.  This now only leaves far west Texas with about 10 – 15 counties.  This trip included 19 counties and a revisit to Swisher County.  This collection of courthouses probably provided a few more courthouse beauties than I expected.  Anyway, I’m finding it harder to sit down and cull the photographs, spruce ’em up, posting, documenting, commenting – then with past treks – could be age.  Now, having said that – you can click on the Texas Maps (the gray map, and the Google map are updated) above and go to any of the counties in the Panhandle you wish and they’ll all have photos.  In fact, they’ll all have the basic courthouse info I provide with each posting.  However there are only 3 courthouses with all that AND my personal notes – Carson County, Sherman County and Hansford County – so you might want to wander there first.  I will, over the next few weeks, completing all the counties, plus other stops such as town squares – old jails – windmill park – a retired courthouse with a ‘boot hill’ near by.  The other county courthouses photos are posted – so if you can’t wait – here are the links:  Armstrong, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Potter, Deaf Smith, Randall, Oldham, Ochiltree, Donley, Hall, Gray, Wheeler, Roberts, Hutchinson, Moore, and Collingsworth Counties.

Well, we finally took a chunk out of the remaining courthouses.  We were able to take in 21 counties around Lubbock – the High Plains.  That still leaves about 35 courthouses located in the other part  of the Panhandle (around Amarillo) and West to Far West Texas.  This trip was somewhat unusual.  It reminds me of why we wanted to go to all the counties – to see all of Texas.  This area was VERY agriculture-centric, with cotton being the biggest crop.  There is quite a bit of oil activity in the area.  And the biggest share of Texas wine grapes are grown around Lubbock.  And I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t mention the wind farms.  There’s a lot of wind to be found on the plains and the multitude of wind farms take advantage.  The towns and cities were at times, very busy, energetic and active.  In some other instances – there were shells of town – or a few where there really was no town at all (think Dickens).  We were very surprised at all the things to do and see in and around Lubbock (including quite a few places in nearby Slaton).  So come along and take a journey with us through the South Plains of Texas.

Two of the courthouses we visited were in the midst of serious renovation/restoration – they are Swisher and Lynn Counties.  We also revisited Dawson County thinking we hadn’t been there before.  Oh, well – it does have nice mosaics over the doors.  The other courthouses included:  Borden, Garza, Crosby, Dickens, Motely, Hale, Hockley, Castro, Parmer, Bailey, Lamb, Lubbock, Briscoe, Cochran, Gaines, Floyd, Terry and Yoakum.  Overall, this group wasn’t too exciting.  A lot of 1930′ built or renovated.  Among the unusual was a corner judge bench in Dickens County.  And a witness seat in Briscoe that was right next to the jury box – like touching close!

We photographed one retired courthouse – Yoakum.  We also got some old/historic jails in Borden, Briscoe, Dickens, Hale, Hockley, Motley, Parmer, and Swisher Counties.

The towns we included for photographs include these towns that seem to have seen better days – or maybe never had them:  Dickens, Gail, Matador, Silverton, Quitaque, Crosbyton and Morton. Tulia, Brownfield, Dimmitt, Plainview, Post, Crosbyton, Floydada, Levelland, Slaton and obviously Lubbock – all seem a little more robust and active.  And finally – the extras.  The other things we were able to work in and take in – the National Ranch Heritage Center, Buddy Holly Museum and Plaza,  theaters of the Plains, the many ‘dead’ theaters we encountered, Murals of the Plains,  and something I didn’t know about – the Ozark Trail Markers.  And while on the road we encountered Bob’s Oil Well Gas Station (a sight to behold) and Trilogy Cellars for the wine lovers.  Slaton offered its’ own treats – the Slaton Bakery, the Harvey House and the Slaton Model RR Station.

Nice quick trip to ‘West’ Texas.  This is the land of rattlesnakes, cattle, oil and windmills for energy as far as the eye can see.  Between Anson and Childress there were towns that are among the smallest in Texas.  In fact, King County is the second least populated county among the 254 Texas Counties.  The courthouses visited on this trip ran the gambit – from ultra modern – Scurry, Taylor, Nolan, Stonewall, Fisher, Kent and King, the art deco/moderne – Knox, Cottle, and Childress, and the somewhat more historic – Mitchell, Haskell, Jones, Foard, Wilbarger and Hardeman.  The courthouses in Jones and Cottle counties are among the most impressive in Texas.  The towns were mostly small and not very active – very typical of many parts of rural Texas.  But Abilene is very large, and Vernon, Childress, Snyder, Sweetwater, Colorado City, Quanah and even Anson – are obviously centers of commerce.  The small towns visited included: Benjamin, Guthrie, Crowell, Paducah, Haskell, Jayton, Aspermont and Roby.  Taking a look at these towns will give you a really good feel for West Texas.  The retired courthouses were visited in King, Taylor and Stonewall counties.  The retired King County Courthouse is now an impressive museum.  It’s often locked – but you can get the key and walk through on your own.  And finding the old Stonewall courthouse is difficult.  Wear your boots – there are rattlesnakes around!  We got pictures of old jails in Cottle, Fisher, Foard, King, Knox, Scurry and Childress Counties.  We were shown through the old King County jail by the County Extension Agent.  It’s stll pretty well intact.  A lot to take in – but with so much of West Texas and the Panhandle to go – we had to dive in somewhere.  Enjoy your visit to West Texas.