County Seat – Cooper
Built – 1940
Architect – Moderne
Style – Hook Smith
Date Photographed – 12/10/12
At first, this didn’t seem to be too promising. It’s layed out on a small piece of land – with parking situated real close. The style wasn’t too apparent at first. Even inside, it was a little sterile. But still, we met the County Judge (that doesn’t happen too often) – and he was pretty proud of the courthouse. County Judge Herb Brookshire allowed us to photograph him – so the picture in the slide show is of Judge Brookshire & me (he’s the one in the coat and tie – I gave those up years ago.) The courthouse had a new exterior of brick laid over the original facade of stucco a few years back. This was done as the original 1940 exterior was falling off. The brick exterior probably detracts some from the original moderne/art deco styling.
The courtroom was large – clean wood. The other thing about this courthouse – there were two posters on the walls that are now on my must get list – a poster of retired jails, and the other one was a shape of Texas – with the photos inside all county courthouses. Despite the high points on this visit, the courthouse was really rather simple.