(Former) Robertson County Courthouse - Calvert, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 30° 58.847 W 096° 40.221
14R E 722476 N 3429800
The history of the Gothic Revival Hammond House reflects the varying events of Robertson County. Built to be the Robertson County Courthouse, Hammond House became a private home after the county seat was moved to Franklin.
Waymark Code: WMXMY1
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/30/2018
Views: 1
Texas Historic Sites Atlas
A two-story Gothic brick structure with very low pitched red channeled tin roof and crenellated parapet. Situated in the center of a block with lawn, scattered large trees, and a rose garden with gazebo. The plan is roughly a Latin cross, with the arms toward the front. There is a second smaller rectangular structure partly connected at the rear.
Early in the 1870s, Calvert was notified that it was to become the county seat of Robertson County. June 1, 1875, A. Groesbeck and F.A. Rice, trustees of a parcel of Houston and Texas Central Railroad land transferred the land to Robertson County for use as a courthouse site. The same day, plans and specifications for the courthouse were accepted by the county. The architect was W.T. Ingraham of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Calvert Courthouse reflected the wealth of a town which was a railroad center, and the site of the largest cottor gin in the world (1871).
Shortly before the courthouse was completed. Franklin was named the county seat, and Calvert was left with a useless building. In 1885, however, Robert A. Brown, merchant, investor, and banker, saw other possibilities for the courthouse: December 1, he purchased the building from A. Faulkner and converted it into a handsome house.
On August 23, 1909, the heirs of Robert Brown sold his home to Fannie Hammond. The property remained in the hands of the Hammond family until 1966.