Dallas County Records Building and Annex (Hall of Records and Annex) - Dealey Plaza Historic District - Dallas, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 46.764 W 096° 48.473
14S E 705306 N 3628958
Dallas County purchased land for a records building in 1926-27 and retained the prominent local firm of Lang & Witchell to design a fireproof building facing Record (then Jefferson) Street, between Elm and Main.
Waymark Code: WM114NT
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/15/2019
Views: 2
NRHP Nomination Form" Completed in 1928, the exterior of the rectangular 6-story structure was faced in cut limestone with cast stone Gothic detailing. Cast metal window spandrels maintained the Gothic motif. The exterior featured flat Gothic arches in the English Perpendicular style. The interior included an entrance vestibule with walls of travertine and brass railings. The first floor had marble wainscoting; cast metal grillwork around the two elevators, which are framed in marble; elaborate ceiling moldings and terrazzo floors. The fourth floor contained the County Commissioners Court, consisting of a rotunda and courtroom.
The Annex was built in 1955 by the Dallas firm of Smith, Worden, Nelson & Corgan, and the interior of the older portion was rearranged. The Annex was placed on the southeast corner of Elm and Houston, with its main facade on Elm, facing the Dal-Tex Building. The second facade occupied 80 feet on Houston Street facing Dealey Plaza and was abutted on the south by a small metal twin loading dock that separated it from the Criminal Courts Building. The Annex is 7 stories. The limestone-clad structure was designed in the International style, with plain lines and strong vertical fenestration massed toward the center of each facade. The Annex housed all but two of Dallas County's ten district courts, offices for the District Clerk and Tax Collector, and three floors of jail cells.
The County Commissioners moved into the former Depository in 1981. Construction of a new courts building elsewhere in 1988 has caused the removal of some of those functions and the growth of the records office has required several interior spatial reorganizations."