Courthouses of San Patricio County
San Patricio, San Patricio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Eight structures have served as the seat of local government for the people of San Patricio County since its earliest settlement. A building known as the "Log Courthouse" was constructed in San Patricio in the early 1830's to serve the people of the San Patricio colony, although the county of San Patricio was not created until 1837. County records reveal that court was held in a new frame courthouse in 1853. Sometime prior to the civil war, construction began on a stone courthouse, but it was never completed due to the unsettled times of the war. Records show that many local residents used stones from the construction site to build chimneys for their homes. In 1872 a new courthouse was completed and housed court for the first time on July 15. Two jury rooms built on the square in 1876 were used as a courthouse after a fire in 1889 destroyed the 1872 building. Following the relocation of the county seat to Sinton in 1894, a new courthouse was built in that city. It was replaced by a new structure in 1927. A replica of the 1872 courthouse, built here on its original site using specifications in commissioners court records, was dedicated in 1986. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Since the 1830s, eight buildings have served as the seat of government for San Patricio County, beginning with a 'Log Courthouse' raised for the San Patricio colony before the county itself was created in 1837. A stone courthouse begun before the Civil War was never finished—neighbors even carried off its stones for their chimneys—and later courthouses came and went by fire and by the 1894 move of the county seat to Sinton. In 1986 a replica of the 1872 courthouse was built on its original site from the old commissioners' specifications.
Why it matters
The succession of courthouses charts the growth of civil government from a Mexican-era colony through statehood, war, and modern Texas.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Battle of San Patricio
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In the predawn hours of February 27, 1836, during the Texas Revolution, Mexican General José Urrea's troops surprised a Texan force in the streets of Old San Patricio. The Texans, remnants of an ill-fated expedition against Matamoros led by Francis W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant, were scattered — sixteen killed and thirty taken prisoner — while a few, including Johnson, escaped. Days later Urrea crushed Grant's remaining men at Agua Dulce Creek, sending the survivors into months of captivity in Matamoros.
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Founded in 1830 by empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin as the capital of their Irish colony, San Patricio de Hibernia—named for the patron saint of Ireland—stood as a lonely frontier outpost when the Texas Revolution erupted. On February 27, 1836, General José Urrea's division of Santa Anna's army surprised and overwhelmed a small Texan party under Johnson, killing several and marching the survivors to Matamoros as prisoners. After the Texan victory at San Jacinto the town was destroyed and its people scattered, and this 1936 monument names its early settlers, soldiers, and notable descendants.
San Patricio County
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This ground carries three centuries of change, from Spanish exploration beginning in 1519 through Mexican independence in 1821. In 1828 empresarios James McGloin and John McMullen won a Mexican land grant and brought Irish colonists to settle it, and the county—named for St. Patrick—was created in 1836 and organized the next year. Its southern edge, the Nueces River, became a flashpoint in the run-up to the Mexican-American War, crossed by Zachary Taylor's army as it marched south.
Site of the Home of James McGloin
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Born in County Sligo, Ireland, James McGloin partnered with John McMullen to win a Mexican contract in 1828 to settle two hundred families in Texas, landing his colonists at El Copano in 1830 and laying out the town of San Patricio in 1834. He built his home on this site in 1855 and died here the following year. His life bridged the Irish diaspora and the Mexican-era colonization that helped populate South Texas on the eve of the Republic.