Red River County Courthouse, Clarksville, Texas. (original) (raw)
Red River County Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006
The Present Red River County Courthouse
Date - 1884
Architect - Willaim H. Wilson
Style - Renaissance Revival & Second Empire
Material - Limestone
Addition - 1910
Historical Marker:
Red River County Courthouse
Records date from 1836.
Fifth courthouse for county.
Built 1885.
Italian Renaissance design.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Red River County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT
The Red River County Courthouse
By Bob Bowman
"In Red River County, one of East Texas' oldest and northernmost counties, the courthouse at Clarksville is undergoing a renovation deserving of its history. And as a part of the renovation, the courthouse clock, nicknamed Old Red, is scheduled to be rebuilt.
Built in 1885, the courthouse boasts turrets and buttresses of mellow yellow stone cut from a quarry near Honey Grove. Because its architecture is part Victorian, part Gothic, and part Italian Renaissance, someone once described it as Late 19th Century Debatable. The courthouse clock ticked from 2:30 p.m. on May 27, 1885, until it developed troubles and was electrified in 1961. This saved the janitor of 30 minutes of hard winding once a week, but four months later, at 4:35 a.m. on a June morning, Old Red started striking and struck her bells 120 time before someone pulled the plug.
A town wag described it as the night that got later than it ever has been."
(From "All Things Historical" Restoring Two Old Reds, February 2001)
Red River County Courthouse Clock Tower as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT
Red River County Courthouse clock tower today
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006
Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, August 2004
Red River County courtroom interior
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, August 2004
