Cooke County Courthouses, Texas history, marker, vintage & recent courthouse photos. (original) (raw)
Cooke County Courthouse
Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy County Judge Jason Brinkley, 2018
Cooke County courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT
Historical Marker Text
Cooke County Courthouse
Settlement of the area now known as Cooke County began in late 1845. The county was created by the State Legislature in 1848 and named for William G. Cooke, Republic of Texas Quartermaster General and a participant in the Battle of San Jacinto. Land for a county seat was donated by Mary E. Clark, and the new town was Gainesville in honor of U.S. Army General Edmund Pendleton Gaines.
There have been four courthouses located on this site. The first, a small log structure, was erected in 1850. It was replaced in 1853 by a one-story frame building which was later destroyed by fire. The third courthouse, a two-story limestone structure, was completed in 1880 and destroyed by fire in 1909.
Designed by the Dallas architectural firm of Lang and Witchell, construction of this Beaux Arts style courthouse began in 1910. The Gainesville firm of Garrett and Collins served as supervising architects, and M. P. Kelly of Gainesville was the contractor. The impressive brick and limestone building features terra cotta ornamentation, eagle brackets, and a copper-clad dome. Clocks were added to the dome in 1920 as a World War I memorial. The courthouse is an important North Texas Landmark.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988.
The courthouse clock tower with copper-clad dome
"Clocks were added to the dome in 1920 as a World War I memorial."
Photo courtesy County Judge Jason Brinkley, 2018
Cooke County Courthouse Historical Marker
on courthouse square
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, April, 2006
The restored Cooke County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November 2011
Cooke County Courthouse as it appeared in 2003
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson
The 1911 Cooke County Courthouse Southwest corner
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November 2011
"The courthouse during the exterior restoration. The exterior was completed and the courthouse rededicated in October of 2006. The interior is also being restored."
- Terry Jeanson, April, 2006 photo
Cooke County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, April, 2006
Cooke County Courthouse skylight,
all cleaned up with new paint on the walls.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November 2011
"The district courtroom has been restored to its original size and two story height. The stained glass windows and most of the plaster molding on the walls were still intact, just covered up by the previous false ceiling."
- Terry Jeanson, November 2011 photo
"Rear of the district courtroom. This courtroom never had a second story balcony but the upper windows used to swivel open. They have been sealed shut for security and safety reasons."
- Terry Jeanson, November 2011 photo
Looking down at the rotunda staircase from the fourth floor
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November 2011
On second floor west side staircase looking east
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, November 2011
1911 Cooke County courthouse with large clock tower & undersized clocks
1920s Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Cooke County courthouse in the 1930s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Cooke County courthouse in the late 1930s
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Another view of the 1911 Cooke County Courthouse
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
The 1878 Cooke County Courthouse
1908 Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/