Jones County Courthouse, Anson, Texas. (original) (raw)
Jones County Courthouse
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2003
Anson downtown in 1940s showing Jones County Courthouse
Click on image to enlarge
Photo courtesy Nancy Bailey
Historical Marker:
Jones County Courthouse
The Seventh Texas Legislature created Jones County in 1858 and named it for Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the area's untamed wilderness combined to postpone the county's formal organization until 1881. Voters selected Jones City, later renamed Anson, as permanent county seat.
The first permanent courthouse was a small frame building, which served until the county purchased a hotel in 1884 for use as a courthouse. An 1886 brick courthouse served the county for the next 24 years. In late 1909, the Jones County commissioners court, led by County Judge J. R. Stinson, determined that the growth of the county called for a larger courthouse. They selected Elmer G. Withers of Stamford (15 mi. N) and the Texas Building Company of Fort Worth as architect and contractor, respectively.
Completed in 1910, the Jones County courthouse is an excellent example of Beaux Arts styling, with influences from the Arts and Crafts movement found in the decorative painting uncovered during a 1990s rehabilitation on the ceiling of the district courtroom. Other notable features include the statue of Lady Justice atop the domed clock tower and the pedimented porticoes with flanking pairs of Ionic columns on each fa�ade. Constructed of brick and Pecos red sandstone, the Jones County courthouse continues to stand as an important part of Anson's architectural heritage and a center of politics and government for the citizens of the county.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000
Jones County Courthouse before remodeling
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com
Photographer's Note:
"The roof was remodeled shortly after this courthouse was built, removing the turrets on the corner pavilions and shortening the height of the clock tower."
"The door on the side of the front entrance staircase leads to the basement where there is a small county museum.
The architect of this courthouse, Elmer George Withers, grew up in Stamford, 17 miles north of Anson on the Jones/Haskell County line. Withers designed a similar looking courthouse for Swisher County in 1909, but it was dramatically remodeled in 1962, removing all of its Beaux-Arts style features." -
The 1910 Jones County Courthouse today
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
1936 Centennial - Highway Marker
Jones County
Site of emigrant trail, the frontier military road, and Fort Phantom Hill, founded in 1851 to guard the military road. County created 1858 from Bexar and Bosque counties. Named for Anson Jones (1798-1858), a veteran of San Jacinto, minister to the U.S., Secretary of State and last President of the Texas Republic. Phantom Hill, in 1858-1861 a Butterfield Overland Mail Station, was in 1861-1865 a Civil War patrol point, trying to curb frontier raids by Indians. The county was recreated in 1876, organized 1881. Anson (at first called Jones City) is county seat.
(1965)
A closer view of the clock tower with a statue of Themis on top of the dome.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Jones County Courthouse front entrance.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Decorative capitals in the main floor hallway.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
Detailed artwork on the ceiling of the district courtroom.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, January, 2007
"The district courtroom retains its original two-story height, but the upper gallery in the rear of the courtroom has been removed."
- Terry Jeanson, 2007 photo
Jones County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT
More early views of the Jones County Courthouse in Anson
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
