Continuing the quest of 254, I planned a trip to the
Trans-Pecos area of Texas, west of San Antonio.
It included the counties of Maverick, Kinney, Val Verde, Edwards and
Real. Photo friends David Billingsley
and Jay Mangum agreed to go with me.
This would be a round trip from Cypress of over 800 miles. To get back in time we would have to leave
early.
Dave and Jay arrived shortly before 4:00 am at my home in
Cypress and after loading the Chevy we drove south down Fry Rd to IH-10 and
turned west. The drive was interrupted
at Seguin where we loaded up on McDonald’s breakfast and coffee. The order was
to go so we ate on the road. Our journey
took us through San Antonio on IH-10 to IH-35 where we turned south. We then turned west on US57 and followed it
to Eagle Pass is on the border with Mexico on the Rio Grande River. It was time to gas up the Chevy and find the
courthouse. All my destinations are
pre-loaded into the Garmin GPS and all I have to do is give it a new
destination. The Garmin led us directly
in front of the Maverick County 1885 courthouse at 500 Quarry St, Eagle Pass,
Texas.
 |
| Courthouses are often the tallest building in town. |
The Romanesque Revival style building is built of brick and stone
and painted a light yellow and trimmed in white. It was completely restored under the Texas
Historical Courthouse Preservation Project in 2005 under the auspices of the
Texas Historical Commission. The grounds
are landscaped with native palm trees.
The interior is also beautifully restored. The hard wood floors are present in the
hallways and courtroom. The main door to
the courtroom was locked but I found another door unlocked in a conference room
which opened into the courtroom. The
courtroom is magnificent with all wood furniture and walls decorated in a deep
blue paint with ornamental design at the top and bottom the walls.
Photos were taken of the interior and exterior. An interesting element we found on the outside
was an old motorcycle with side car parked on the street in front of the
courthouse. We finished up with our
photos and set the GPS to Brackettville and the Kinney County courthouse.
Just outside Brackettville we found an old concrete water
tower close to the highway that looked out of place. Water is a valuable commodity in this part of
Texas and I guess this rancher wanted to insure he had enough to water his herd
of cattle.
Brackettville is the county seat for Kinney County. The county was founded in 1876 and survived
after being bypassed by the railroad by supplying cut limestone in a nearby
quarry. The original courthouse of 1879
still remains on the corner. It is now a Masonic lodge. The 1910 Beaux-Arts courthouse is built of
buff brick with red brick on the corners quoins. There are two octagon shaped towers on the
east end and clock tower in the middle.
The clock mechanism is housed inside the courthouse on the second floor
just outside the courtroom. I don’t believe the clock is working or someone
forgot to wind it. The interior walls
are decorated with blueprints of the original courthouse. From the drawings the exterior has been
changed over the years. Across the street is
There are also some old black and white photographs of Brackettville and
inhabitants from the 1800’s.
 |
| The courthouse had a unique pressed metal ceiling. |
Brackettville is hurting for commerce. One of the few establishments we found opened was an old fashioned hardware store, D & D Hardware, just down Ann St from the courthouse.
We finished
up the Kinney County courthouse and turned east toward Del Rio, county seat of
Val Verde County.
Del Rio is also on the border with Mexico and along the Rio
Grande. Val Verde County was organized in 1885 and two years later built their
one and only courthouse in 1887. The original
style was Second Empire; however the mansard roofs have been modified. It is built of native limestone. The historical marker says it is Classical
Revival style after it was remodeled.
Each corner of the building has an octagon shaped tower which before
remodeling had the steep conical roofs. The exterior as well as the interior looks as
it could stand some restoration. We soon
finished this courthouse and we were headed north to Rocksprings, county seat
of Edwards County.
 |
| Val Verde County Courthouse, Del Rio, Texas |
The drive to Rocksprings took us into the Texas hill country
and rolling rock hills. This terrain is
prime deer hunting country as exhibited by the large ranches with the “deer
proof” fencing. We could measure the
amount of oil and gas money the land owner receives is directly related to the
quality of the fence and entrance gates.
The ranches with the most oil wells have the best gates and fences.
As we turned onto the courthouse square I knew immediately
that I would have to return to Rocksprings.
The entire courthouse is being restored and enclosed in scaffolding and
fencing. One of the unique features of
this county seat is its original jail built in 1895. The second floor was built with a trap door
for an execution by hanging.
 |
| Edwards County Jail with hanging trap door on 2nd floor |
Jay and I had lunch in Rocksprings at a Mexican restaurant about a block from the courthouse square. The beef fajita was very good. Our last courthouse for the day was in Leakey, Texas,
pronounced “lakey”, county seat of Real County.
The drive from Rocksprings to Leakey was the most scenic that we have
taken, rolling rock hills, rivers, and long distance vistas.
The Real County courthouse was built in 1917 out of local limestone. The county made an addition to the original building in 1978. One thing I don’t understand is why the air conditioners were placed in the front of the building. We finished our photos and headed the Chevy toward Houston. It would take us about 4 hours to get back to Cypress.
No comments:
Post a Comment