county Seat – George West
Built – 1919
Architect – Alfred Giles (more noted for his Victorian buildings)
Style – Texas Renaissance
Photos taken – March 13, 2005
see the Historic Live Oak County jail (Oakville)
Impressions/storyline – We first drove to George West, county seat of Live Oak county. Sleepy town, with a pretty dead town area. As it turned out, it is the home town of J. Dobie, the great Texas storyteller. The courthouse was unimpressive. It had nice enough columns and decoration – but it has two additions that truly detracted from any possible beauty the courthouse may have had at one time. There was no historic marker concerning the courthouse as there is at most courthouses. Of more interest, but in much more ruins – were the remains of the historic Live Oak County jail in Oakville. Oakville is pretty much of a ghost town now – but was once the county seat.