Texas Courthouse Trails : 7 East Texas Counties: Center to Livingston on a Beautiful Friday in November

The route down and through East Texas began in Center, Texas, county seat of Shelby County. To get to Center, we left Houston at 5:00 am and headed north up US59 from Houston. Our first stop was breakfast in Cleveland at the Mc Donald's. You can't beat their coffee for taste and it's always hot. On the road again we drove through Livingston, which we will come back to, Lufkin and Nacogdoches turning northeast on SH7 which took us to Center. The landscape was pretty much the same for all seven counties; rolling hills, pine forests, and lakes scattered here and there. We arrived in Center at 9:00 am.

I was in Center two years ago on a Sunday and photographed the courthouse, exterior only. I had seen photos of the interior since then and knew I had to return. The Shelby County courthouse was designed and built in 1885 by architect J.J.E.Gibson. Gibson was from Ireland and built the courthouse to resemble an Irish castle. It is in the Romanesque Revival style. Gibson also supplied the 2 million bricks needed to construct the building from a quarry in Louisiana. The courthouse has 12 chimneys. There is no structrual iron other than the iron rods holding the brick walls together.

I found all the doors locked so I inquired at the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce which is in the historic jail next door to the courthouse.

Historic Jail / County Chamber of Commerce

I was told that the courthouse caretaker was due about 10:00 am. We had 45 minutes to kill so we found a McDonand's for a rest stop. Returning at 10am to the courthouse I met Mr. Joe Louis Jones. Mr. Jones said that he was born about 50 yards from the courthouse and has grown up in Center his entire life. He offered to give me a guided tour of the 1885 Shelby County Courthouse.

First Floor:

Mr. Jones pointed out an office on the first floor which had the architect's desk and a portrait of the architect, Gibson.

Mr. Jones took me to the intersection of the two hallways and pointed to an 1885 silver dollar embedded into the floor. He said that this coin was the exact geographical center of Shelby County. The Texas Constitution specified that county seats were to be located in the middle of the county.

1885 Silver dollar

Mr. Jones opened this door revealing a narrow staircase that went up to the second floor courtroom. He stated that this was how the judge entered the courtroom. We later went up to the courtroom and saw where the stairs emerged at the judge's bench.

Mr. Jones and I went up to the second floor courtroom. He pointed out the sloping floor from back to front. He also pointed out the rafters triangle structure making the building very strong.

Mr. Jones pointed out the courtroom seats, benchs made of iron with wooden slats. He said that bench iron side is in the shape of a dragon and the dragon is eating it's tail, representing that evil is destroyed, a fitting analogy for a courtroom bench. The windows in the courtroom go all the way to the ceiling allowing air to flow into the courtroom. The hot air would be vented up and out the ceiling creating an air flow for the hot Texas summers.

Sabine County

We left Center and drove south to Hemphill, county seat of Sabine County. The courthouse was built in 1906 in the Beaux Arts style. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1909 when a flat roof was added. The ancient cedar tree in the corner of the square is a noted old time gathering place for town folks playing dominoes.

San Augustine County

We left Hemphill and drove north to San Augustine, county seat by the same name. The 1927 courthouse is a Classic Revival built of limestone and concrete. San Augustine is one of twenty-three original Texas counties. There is also an old historic jail in the back side of the courthouse square.

San Augustine Historic Jail

We programmed the GPS for Jasper our next county. I told David that if we ran across a catfish place I was stopping for lunch. About 3 miles north of Jasper I spotted the "Catfish Hut" and I pulled into the parking lot. I had three choices of sizes for catfish lunch plates. After seeing the large size I ordered two small lunch plates. Wow, I glad I didn't get the medium or large size. We both got two huge filets of catfish, fries, onion, salad, and banana pudding. Lunch was good. We continued our journey to Jasper.

Jasper County Courthouse Courtroom

The Jasper County courthouse was built in 1889, designed by Eugene T. Heiner. It has undergone extensive remodeling. It is still a very classic Texas courthouse.

Courtroom

From Newton we headed west on SH105 to Woodville, county seat of Tyler County. This courthouse has also been extensively remodeled and changed in the 1930's. The courthouse was built as an Italianate style designed by T. S. Hodges. The courtroom has been beautifully restored.