Courthouse Square Women's Restroom - Glen Rose Downtown Historic District - Glen Rose, TX
N 32° 14.105 W 097° 45.357
14S E 617210 N 3567172
There are two outdoor restrooms on the courthouse square in Glen Rose, and both of them are contributing buildings in the Glen Rose Downtown Historic District. This is the women's.
Waymark Code: WM123YD
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/21/2020
Views: 2
Although they're not able to document it, the two restrooms are probably the work of the WPA, and the National Register's Registration Form provides some good reading:
The women's restroom on the western corner of the grounds of the Somervell County Courthouse consists of a historic stone structure to which a later wooden addition was made. The initial stone structure, constructed of ashlar local limestone masonry, measures 11 x 16 feet. The corners have smoothed edges. The building has two openings for fixed windows on the two longer sides and one opening for a fixed window on the rear, all of the openings measuring 2 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 8 inches. A single doorway facing south opens into the front entry. Above each of the window openings and the doorway are concrete lintels. The original roof was flat concrete. The interior treatment is concrete that shows the imprint of individual boards that comprised the forms at the time of construction. In the 1980s an enclosed wood frame addition was made to the east side of the women's restroom that measures 6 feet by 13 feet 5.5 inches. At the same time an open porch was added on the east side that measures 6 feet by 13 feet 5.5 inches. Currently the wooden addition is painted a cream color. The entire structure supports a low-pitched gable roof with brown-painted metal covering fitted with rain gutters. The windows in the stone structure have all been closed with plywood.
Initially the Somervell County Courthouse had no flush toilets. Wooden privies stood on the courthouse grounds, but surviving records suggest that they served only men. Repeatedly these privies were the subject of complaint for disrepair and unsanitary conditions. Eventually in 1909 a restroom with flush toilet for men was added inside the office of the County Clerk. Then about 1925 a women's toilet structure was constructed on the east side of the courthouse just beyond its eastern corner. It served women until the construction of the new masonry restrooms three-quarters of a century ago that remain in service to this day. The stonework in the current Women's Restroom and that in the similar Men's Restroom matches that in the 1934 Somervell County Jail. Although the County Commissioners' Court minutes do not mention the present-day restroom buildings until after their completion in 1934, their construction clearly was associated with that of the 1934 County Jail.
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Glen Rose Downtown Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
Address:
101 NE Barnard St, Glen Rose, TX 76043
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)
Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed
|