Historic Texas Courthouses

There is no more eloquent expression of a civilization's economic progress and cultural maturity than its civic architecture. The historic courthouses of Texas testify to the independence and fortitude of a resolute people determined to wrench order out of the devastation of Civil War and to enforce justice on a frontier advanced beyond the reaches of law. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuriestermed by author Michael Andrews "the Great Age of Texas Courthouses"county courthouses rose as the predominant symbols of progress and stability, optimism, and robust community pride. Historic Texas Courthouses gives attention to 100 landmark courthouses in Texas. Architects of the past become living people to the reader. Author Michael A. Andrews delivers an education in the elements of architectural style. Details about the artisans and their materials and methods are recorded. Stories abound of the spirited competition by towns for the trophy of being designated "county seat." In 1999, the Historic Courthouses of Texas were featured on the National Trust's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This led to an awareness and outcry over the deterioration and loss of many of these important structures, so that the Texas Legislature and then-Governor George W. Bush vigorously responded with a program to fund their restoration. The Texas Historical Commission ably administered that program, the most ambitious statewide preservation effort in the history of Texas, and many of the venerable buildings have been restored to their former grandeur.