Courthouses near Fort Worth

The Route: September 30, 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

The forecast for Fort Worth was clear blue skies, mild temperatures and no possibility of rain.  I picked up David at 4:00 am and we headed north on I-45.  This trip was to visit four new counties; Hood, Parker, Jack and Palo Pinto and revisit four counties; Hill, Johnson, Wise and Ellis. Our first stop was to get breakfast at the Mc Donalds in Huntsville.  The route took us up I-45 to Fairfield and then west on FM171 to Hillsboro, county seat of Hill County.  I had photographed this courthouse before but I wanted some additional shots.  The sun was just coming up which produced a soft yellow glow on the otherwise white tower.

On January 1, 1993 the Hill County courthouse was destroyed by fire.  The only thing left standing were the four limestone walls. The interior was wooden as was the clock tower.  The tower collapsed into the basement.  The people of Hill County would not let a fire destroy their courthouse.  An urgent request for funds from the Texas Historical Commission, a federal grant and individual contributions to rebuild the courthouse.  Willie Nelson held two benefit concerts on the courthouse square.  Today, the Hill County courthouse is completely restored. 

The Johnson County courthouse dominates the skyline in Cleburne, Texas

We left Hillsboro and continued north on FM171 to Cleburne, Texas, county seat of Johnson County.  I photographed the Johnson County courthouse in April of 2012, however, I did not go inside.  I later learned about the magnificent skylight in the tower. We arrived in Cleburne and I found a nice shady spot to park.

The skylight is similar to the Harris County 1910 Courthouse.

This courthouse is huge.  The tower dominates the Cleburne skyline. The architectural firm of Lang and Witchell of Dallas designed it.  Charles E. Barglebaugh assisted in designing this courthouse as well as the Harris County courthouse.  The Johnson County courthouse is classified as a "Beaux Arts" style with strong Prairie School influences.    

Our jouney continued north on FM171,then west on US377 to Granbury, Texas, county seat of Hood County. The county was named after Lt.Gen John Bell Hood of the Confederate Army and the county seat, Granbury, was named for Confederate General Hiram Bronson Granbury.

The courthouse sits in the middle of the town of Granbury on a nicely manicured square.  The clock in the tower actually tells the correct time.  The interior of the courthouse has been beautifully restored.  This is another Second Empire style architecture designed by W.C. Dodson. The courthouse was constructed from 1890 to 1891.

Parker County Courthouse from a half mile away

Parker County Courthouse

We continued our journey to Weatherford on I-20 west of Fort Worth.  The Parker County courthouse sits in a small square round-about with traffic going in front of and in back of the building.  There ares parking in lots across the streets. This is an impressive courthouse. The red mansard roof sits on top of a white limestone building.  It is another Second Empire design built in 1886.

The tall tower also dominates the town of Weatherford.

Our route took us east on US180 toward Palo Pinto, county seat of Palo Pinto County.  To get there, we had to drive through Mineral Wells and we passed this 14 story abandoned building wondering what it was, what happened to it.  I just looked so out of place.  David using his handy Iphone and Google discovered it was the famous "Baker Hotel".  

Here's a postcard of the Baker Hotel.

The Baker Hotel story began in 1925 when the citizens of Mineral Wells approached hotel magnet Theodore Brasher Baker with the idea of building a hotel in Mineral Wells for visitors to the local mineral springs and water, a "spa in the middle of Texas." Baker seeing the potential agreed and construction began.  Baker visited a hotel in California that had a swimming pool and decided the Baker Hotel needed an exterior swimming pool.  The hotel would have 450 rooms with air conditioning, 2 ball rooms.  It attracted such personalities as Glen Miller, Lawrence Welk and Clark Gable. It also attracted outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The Baker Hotel was completed in 1929 at a cost of  $1.2 million.The hotel operated successfully until the end of WW2. It hosted two Republican conventions and one Democrat convention in the 50's.  The hotel closed in 1963, reopened in 1965 and closed its doors for good in 1972.  There have been several attempts to reopen the hotel but none happened.  It sits in the middle of Mineral Wells, closed, abandoned, and in serious decline.  The locals believe the hotel is haunted.  I'll let it go at that.

Palo Pinto Courthouse

We continued on the the town of Palo Pinto and the courthouse.  The building is a three story Texas Renaissance style courthouse. The most impressive thing about the inside were the light fixtures in the courtroom.  They are round chandeliers with an eagle on four sides.

From Palo Pinto we retraced our route back to Mineral Wells on US180 and took US281 north to Jacksboro, county seat of Jack County.

The Jack County courthouse is a white limestone built in 1940 and designed by the architectural firm of Voelcker and Dixon in the Moderne style with Art Deco elements.

As you enter the courthouse there is a map of Jack County in the tile floor.  








Revisit to Wise County, Decatur, Texas

The last time we were in Decatur it was raining.  The exterior photos of the courthouse were taken on a very cloudy day.  I couldn't pass up a chance with these blue skies.  I could see the courthouse tower 6 miles away from Decatur.

Wise County Courthouse 

Ellis County Courthouse, Waxahachie, TX

The Ellis County courthouse is similar to the Wise County courthouse as both were designed by the same architect, J Riely Gordon in Romanesque Revival style.  What I found at the Ellis courthouse were face carvings at both entrances.