1909 - Colorado County Courthouse, Columbus, TX
N 29° 42.335 W 096° 32.393
14R E 738007 N 3288695
The Courthouse Square in historic downtown Columbus, TX is the seat of Colorado County. Its courthouse was constructed in 1890 but repaired/renovated in 1909 after a tornado tore off the upper parts of the building.
Waymark Code: WMG0PH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/29/2012
Views: 7
This is the fourth courthouse built for Colorado County, TX. The present structure was begun in July 1890 and completed in February 1891. The architect was Eugene T. Heiner, who built several other courthouses around Texas, and the constractor was Martin, Byrne & Johnston. The design of the courthouse is said to be Renissance Revival style which blends the Classical Revival features with Greek Revival features.
The historic design had a cupola bell tower with clocks attached to it, but a tornado in 1909 damaged the courthouse by destroying this bell tower. When repaired, the building plan was changed to replace the bell tower with a copper dome which included a Tiffany stained glass window at its top and re-incorporating the four clocks into its design. Because of this major renovation/repair to the appearance and structure of the courthouse after the tornado, the four pediments, located over the entrances and under each of the four restored and repaired clocks, are dated 1909.
The Colorado County Courthouse is located at 400 Spring Street, Columbus, TX. Columbus was settled in 1823 by a group of the original members of Stephen F Austin's colony. Although it has remained a town of less than 4,000 residents, it can thus claim to be the oldest continuously occupied Anglo-American settlement in Texas!
In 2012, the Colorado County Courthouse building was closed for interior restoration to the building.
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