Dallas County Courthouse, Dallas, Texas. (original) (raw)
The 1966 Dallas County courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The Present Dallas County courthouse -
Dallas, Texas
Date - 1966
Style - Modern
Material - concrete and steel
The 1966 Dallas County courthouse has been remodeled with a large addition to the east side.
The 1892 Dallas County Courthouse "Old Red"
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
SW corner of the courthouse at Commerce and Houston
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Date - 1892
Architect - Orlopp & Kusener
Style - Romanesque Revival
Material - Old granite and sandstone
Stood as Old Red Museum of Dallas County History since 2007.
Old Red Courthouse Update:
The Old Red Courthouse is no longer the home of the Old Red Museum. When construction is completed, it will serve as the new location for the Texas Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. -
Clint Skinner, July 25, 2022
Old Red Courthouse
(Historical Marker)
Designated as public land in John Neely Bryan's 1844 city plat, this was the site of a log courthouse built after Dallas County was created in 1846. When Dallas won election as permanent county seat in 1850, Bryan deeded the property to the county, and a larger log structure was erected.
In 1856 county offices occupied a 2-story brick edifice, rebuilt in 1860 after a fire that almost destroyed the city. The fourth courthouse, a 2-story granite structure erected in 1871, survived one fire in 1880 before it burned again in 1890.
The Old Red Courthouse, the fifth seat of county government, was begun in 1890 and completed in 1892. Designed by Architect M. A. Orlopp, it exemplifies the Romanesque Revival style with its massive scale and rounded arches. The blue granite of the lower floor and window trim contrasts with the red sandstone of the upper stories. Eight circular turrets dominate the design. A clock tower with a 4500-pound bell originally topped the building, but it was removed in 1919. Two of the four clay figures perched on the roof have also been removed. To house the expanding county government, a new courthouse was built in 1965. Some offices remained in the 1890 structure, which was renovated in 1968.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1977
"Old Red" as it appeared in 1939
Notice the cabin of Dallas' Pioneer Settler, John Neely Bryan, in front.
Photo courtesy TXDoT
Bird's-eye view of Dallas' "Old Red" Courthouse in 2006
Photo courtesy C. DeWaun Simmons, February 2006
The central clock tower, absent since 1919, was reconstructed and completed in the summer of 2007. It rises 205 feet above the street.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Tower on southeast corner
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The missing two of the four original griffins were restored to the roof of the courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Texas red granite column at west side entrance
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Detail on the arches over the west side entrance
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Museum sign on the northwest corner of the courthouse. Old Red Courthouse is now the Old Red Museum of Dallas County Hstory & Culture
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
1892 Dallas County Courthouse Interior
Stained glass transom over west side entrance.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The main staircase on the south side of the courthouse rises to the fourth floor
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Looking down from the second floor.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
End post on the first floor of the staircase
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Displayed in the center of the first floor is a lighted Pegasus which sat on top of a Mobil gas station in Casa Linda in east Dallas for fifty years. Before that, in 1939, it was on display at the World's Fair in New York. (The original Pegasus on top of the Magnolia Building in Dallas was larger than this one.)
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
Second floor hallway. Each room on the second floor is filled with display cases and interactive, multimedia kiosks which educate visitors about the history of Dallas and Dallas County.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2008
1892 Dallas County Courthouse Old Postcards
1903 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
1907 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
1908 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
1910 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
"Old Courthouse and Cabin of Dallas' Pioneer Settler, John Neely Bryan."
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
The old and new Dallas County Courthouses
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
"New & old County Courthouses & Kennedy Memorial, Dallas, Texas."
1972 postcardourtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
The 1881 Dallas County Courthouse
The 1881 Dallas County courthouse
Photo from a display case at the Old Red Museum.
- Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The 1881 Dallas County CourthouseStyle - Second Empire
James Flanders, Dallas's most important 19th century architect, built this courthouse out of the remaining walls of the previous building. Using limestone quarried from White Rock Creek, it cost $100,000 and was widely believed to be the first fireproof courthouse in the city's fire-plagued history but unfortunately, it, too, burned in 1890. Information from the Dallas Historical Society. -
The 1872 Dallas County Courthouse
The 1872 Dallas County courthouse
Photo from a display case at the Old Red Museum.
- Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The 1872 Dallas County Courthouse
Style - Italianate
Material - Local white limestone
Remodeled in 1881 by James Flanders after the partial fire in 1880
Work began on this courthouse in 1871. After spending 40,000,itwasstillunfinished,andittookanemergencyactbythestatelegislatureforfundstocontinuework.OncompletioninMay1874,thefinalcosthadreached40,000, it was still unfinished, and it took an emergency act by the state legislature for funds to continue work. On completion in May 1874, the final cost had reached 40,000,itwasstillunfinished,andittookanemergencyactbythestatelegislatureforfundstocontinuework.OncompletioninMay1874,thefinalcosthadreached75 - 80,000. It partially burned in 1880. Information from DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. -
The 1855 Dallas County Courthouse
The 1855 Dallas County courthouse
Photo from a display case at the Old Red Museum.
- Terry Jeanson, February 2008
The 1855 Dallas County Courthouse
This square, brick building, completed in 1856 at a cost of 7400,survivedthefirethatdevastatedmostofthebusinessesintownin1860,butitwastorndownin1871anditsmaterialssoldfor7400, survived the fire that devastated most of the businesses in town in 1860, but it was torn down in 1871 and its materials sold for 7400,survivedthefirethatdevastatedmostofthebusinessesintownin1860,butitwastorndownin1871anditsmaterialssoldfor465. Information from the Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division, Dallas Public Library. - Terry Jeanson