see Historic Caldwell County Jail
county Seat – Lockhart
Built – 1894
Architect – Alfred Giles
Style – Second Empire
Photographed – April 2, 2005
Impressions:
Lockhart – Barbeque capital of Texas – so-named by the Texas Legislature, and you know their seldom wrong about anything! Politics aside, Lockhart was a lovely little town (really a small city of 11,000 near Austin). Lots of turn of the century homes and a traditional town square. It also has 2 play houses, which is neat for such a small town. That’s why we went to Lockhart this weekend – to see a play. Our friends – Paul and Tim, are both involved in one of the playhouses in Lockhart. Paul used to be a director and main moving force in the theater, Tim starred in the play we went to see.
We took the trailer – it only took about an 1 ½ to make the trip. We set up in Lockhart State Park. Really a nice park – but mainly it’s a golf course. It’s small, with only about 10 or 12 RV sites and about 15 tent sites. We took a site right on the golf course. It was pretty, especially being spring. The park had quite a few stands of bluebonnets, with a few Indian Pain Brush mixed in. There is a creek that runs through the park, and they’ve got a nice waterfall right by the road going to the camp sites. There’s also a swimming pool, but it wasn’t open yet.
The play was nice. It was a two man play. Tim played an old Jewish gentleman who had been hit by this guy. The guy’s sentence was to help the old man for 6-months. The play centered around their 6 months together and their problems and how they grew together as friends. After the play, we went to a cast party. Before the play, we went to Black’s for dinner. Of course, Black’s is a barbeque dinner – what else in Lockhart?
Now for the courthouse. At first, it was my hope to do both Caldwell and Hays (San Marcos), but that didn’t workout. But the stunning beauty of the Caldwell courthouse made up for only getting to this one. It sits in the traditional square I mentioned earlier. It’s been restored and that’s obvious. The colors, the brightness, and the style – along with the setting, make for one of the prettier overall courthouses we’ve seen to this point, and will certainly be in the top 10 or 20 when we’re done, I’m sure. The style is the ornate Second Empire, which adds to its’ beauty. The courthouse is used for a lot of the backdrops for Lockhart promotions, and I can see why. Let the pictures do their own talking!