Ward County Courthouse Monahans Ward County Texas. (original) (raw)
The 1940 Ward County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, 2005
The Present Ward County Courthouse
Date - 1940
Architect - Townes & Funk
Style - Moderne
Material - Concrete & stone
The 1940 courthouse replaces the 1893 Ward County Courthouse that stood in Barstow, now razed.
"The 1940 Ward County courthouse was built with a rooftop jail which is no longer in use. The building has since been surrounded by modern additions." -
A Brief History of Ward County
Thomas William Ward was a Texas soldier and land commissioner, while John Monahans dug the first water well between the Pecos River and Big Spring. Barstow was the First County Seat in Ward County (5 miles East of Pecos).
Barstow was named after George Eames Barstow, a brilliant pioneer irrigation scientist from Rhode Island who used water from the Pecos River to produce abundant and profitable fruit and grape crops until a devastating flood and a succession of droughts stopped things cold. Shortly after farming stopped in Barstow, oil was discovered in Monahans. George Barstow came to West Texas in 1905 and is now buried in the cemetery. The current population of Barstow is just over 500 people.
"The entrance facade to the district courtroom is surrounded in black marble. The statement above the door reads as follows:
WARD COUNTY BUILDING 1940 A.D.
Reverently dedicated to the men and women who, in the face of untold menaces, have revealed to a needful nation this our empire and its manifold treasures, leaving it an unforgotten heritage of courage, hope, strength, freedom and honor." -
A map of Texas in the tile floor outside the district courtroom with Ward County highlighted.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, 2005
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The Judge wore Spurs TE Photo |
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The "Ward County Courthouse" when it was temporarily housed at City Hall 1939 photo courtesy TXDoT |
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The 1893 Ward County Courthouse in Barstow
The former courthouse built in 1893 was razed in the 1950s. Thered sandstone used for the courthouse was quarried locally and was also used in the construction of thefirst bankin Ward County.
The former 1893 Ward County Courthouse in Barstow
Early 1900s photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
The courthouse in Barstow as it appeared in the mid-thirties right before the move to Monahans.
Photo courtesy TXDoT