Presidio County Courthouse

The Presidio County Courthouse is located in Marfa, Presidio County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.

Presidio County Courthouse
Texas State Antiquities Landmark
Presidio County Courthouse
Presidio County Courthouse
LocationPublic Sq., Marfa, Texas
Coordinates30°18′48″N 104°1′20″W
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built1886 (1886)
ArchitectAlfred Giles
Architectural styleSecond Empire, Italianate
NRHP reference No.77001467[1]
TSAL No.8200000531
RTHL No.4117
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 20, 1977
Designated TSALMay 28, 1981
Designated RTHL1964

Description

San Antonio architect Alfred Giles beat out eighteen other competitors to submit the winning bid on designing the 1886 courthouse at a cost of $60,000.[2] Giles modeled the Second Empire style building after the El Paso courthouse he also designed in 1886.[3][4] When the structure was completed, the county held a celebratory grand ball on January 1, 1887.[5]

The courthouse can be seen from almost any location in Marfa.[6] Designed of brick and stone quarried in Marfa, the exterior is of pink stucco with Lady Justice sitting atop the central dome. The tower is spanned by Roman arches. Interiors are designed of pecan wood. Dormers extend over the roof, with triangular pediments and iron cresting. The building has entrances on all sides, meeting in a central rotunda. When designed, the district courtroom took up the entire east side of the second floor. The grand jury room was on the third floor. A remodeling took place in 2001.[4][7]

History
Original Presidio County Courthouse in Fort Davis; the handwritten description on the back of the photo may be viewed here
Main article: Jeff Davis County Courthouse (Texas) § Original courthouse

The courthouse was preceded by a facility, no longer extant, in Fort Davis from 1880 to 1885 when the county seat was relocated from Fort Davis to Marfa.

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See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Baird, David; Peterson, Eric; Schlecht, Neil Edward (2011). Frommer's Texas. Frommer. p. 355.
  3. "THC-1886 El Paso Courthouse". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  4. "THC-NRHP". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  5. O'Connor, Louise S; Thompson, Cecelia (2009). Marfa. The Big Bend Sentinel. p. 18.
  6. Francaviglia, Richard V (1996). Main Street Revisited: Time, Space, and Image Building in Small-Town America. University Of Iowa Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-87745-542-4.
  7. Browne, Byron (2011). Driving Southwest Texas: On the Road in Big Bend Country. The History Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-60949-072-0.
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