Texas Courthouse Trails : My Favorite Texas Courthouse Architect: J Riely Gordon

J. Riely Gordon

If I were to rank Texas architects who've designed more than three courthouses, J. Riely Gordon would be at the top of the list. Gordon was famous for using Richardson Romanesque style after the famous Louisiana born architect, Henry H. Richardson.

Romanesque Revival is a style of architecture that uses round arches over windows and/or entrances. The emphasis is around the arches. The cavernous entryways and window openings, thick masonry walls, rounded towers with conical roof and facades which are typically asymmetrical. Stones of different shades is often used to emphasize the lines. The main identifying feature is the classic Roman arch.

This style of architecture was years before the use of steel and glass to build structures. It required talented stone masons who cut and shaped the blocks that went into building a structure and the building became a work of art.

Gordon is a remarkable architect. He had no formal architecture training. He learned engineering from his father, who was a civil engineer. He learned applied engineering by working for a railroad. He studied architecture from two other well know Texas architects, W. K. Dobson and J. N. Preston. He also worked in the office of the supervising architect of the U. S. in Washington, D.C. Gordon returned to San Antonio and set about being an architect. Gordon designed hundreds of buildings in Texas and other states. He is most notably remembered in Texas and the "courthouse architect. In the ten year period of 1890 to 1900 Gordon designed fifteen courthouses:

Aransas County: 1889 Aransas County Courthouse, Style: Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival. It was demolished in 1956 and replaced by the ugliest courthouse in Texas.

Aransas County Courthouse about the ugliest in Texas

Brazoria County: 1894 built in Brazoria, TX the Brazoria County Courthouse was built in the Richardson Romanesque style. County seat was moved to Angleton and Gordon's masterpiece was demolished in 1930.

Comal County: 1899 in Romanesque Revival. It has undergone a complete restoration and is the pride of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas.

Ellis County: 1897 Richardson Revival design in Waxahachie is the centerpiece of the Ellis County Courthouse Historic District

Erath County: 1892 Romanesque Revival style, recorded in Texas Historic Landmark in 1963

Bexar County: 1891, Gordon won first prize of $1000 in a county wide competition to design a new Bexar County courthouse in San Antonio. It is also being restored to its original design.

Fayette County: 1891 in La Grange and is the star feature of the downtown La Grange Historic District and is still used as a courthouse.

Gonzales County: a Romanesque Revival courthouse that is a Texas Historic Landmark and still used as a county courthouse.

Harrison County: 1900 in the Beaux Arts and Renaissance Revival styles it is one of Gordon's most beautiful. It is still used by the county as a meeting place for commissioners court and also a museum.

Hopkins County: built in 1895 in Sulphur Springs, Texas in the Romanesque Revival style at a cost of $75,000. It remains an active courthouse today.

Lee County: 1899 in Giddings, TX in the Romanesque Revival style and constructed of red brick. It has some structural cracks in the basement and is not being used as a courthouse.

McClennan County: 1896 a Beaux Arts style courthouse in Waco, completed in 1902 and has been restored under the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.

Victoria County: 1892 has been restored to its original design and features and is still used as a courthouse in Victoria.

Wise County: 1895 located in Decatur, Tx is an active courthouse today

Van Zandt County: 1892 was razed in 1936. The only things from it that remain today are the cast iron eagle which sat at the top tower and the cornerstone.