Wheeler County Courthouse, Wheeler, Texas. (original) (raw)
|
" Wheeler County courthouse was restored and rededicated in 2004."
- Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, September, 2007
The Present Wheeler County Courthouse
Date - 1925
Architect - E. H. Eads
Style - Classical Revival
Material - Brick
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Mobeetie was the original county seat.
The county seat was moved to Wheeler in 1908.
The 1925 Wheeler County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy of TXDoT
Historical marker on the west side of the courthouse.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, September, 2007
Historical Marker:
Wheeler County Courthouse
Named for Royal T. Wheeler, an early Texas jurist, Wheeler County was created by the Texas State Legislature in 1876. In 1879 the county was organized and Mobeetie (then known as Sweetwater), the only town in the county, became the county seat. A stone courthouse was erected from locally quarried materials in 1880. That structure was replaced with a wood frame building in 1888.
As the area grew and its center changed, the town of Wheeler was officially designated the county seat in 1908. The wooden courthouse was moved to this site, but by 1913 it was too small to serve the county's needs. A separate building was erected on the southwest corner of the courthouse square that year to house the county clerk's office; it was enlarged in 1923. A bond election held in 1925 set aside funds for a new courthouse. The 1888 courthouse was sold to Sheriff Riley Price, who dismantled it and used the lumber to build barns on his ranch east of town.
Designed by E. H. Eads of Shamrock, the edifice was built by local contractors Hughes and Campbell. Featuring Palladian windows and Corinthian columns characteristic of the Classical Revival style, the 1925 Wheeler County Courthouse typifies the favored style of American public buildings of its time. The 1913 county clerk's office was torn down in 1929; curbs and sidewalks were in place after the summer of 1930. Gas heat and a water system were installed in 1926. The streets on all four sides of the courthouse were paved in 1944 and the surrounding streets in the late 1970s. Standing prominently on the town square, the historic Wheeler County Courthouse continues to serve as the center of local government.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2000
NOTE:
"The updated Kelsey and Dyal courthouse book lists four courthouses for Wheeler County with the dates of 1880 and 1888 (in Mobeetie) and 1907 and 1925 (in Wheeler.)
The historical marker specifically states that the 1888 courthouse was moved to Wheeler but replaced in 1913. So it seems that there are four courthouses dated 1880, 1888, 1913 and 1925.
However, the historical marker also states that the 1913 building (enlarged in 1923) was used as the county clerk's office, so it wasn't technically a new courthouse, just an annex. The 1888 courthouse wasn't dismantled until the 1925 courthouse was being built. So, technically, there were only three courthouses. 1880, 1888 and 1925." -
More views of the 1925 Wheeler County courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, September, 2007
Wheeler County courthouse entrance
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, September, 2007
"The 1888 Wheeler County courthouse in the first county seat of Mobeetie was moved to the town of Wheeler when Wheeler was elected as the new county seat in 1908. This picture of the 1888 wooden courthouse is hanging in the district clerk's office in the current courthouse."
- Terry Jeanson, September, 2007
