Erath County Courthouse
Stephenville, Erath County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1854 and named for early settler and land donor John M. Stephen, the town of Stephenville became county seat when Erath County was created in 1856. The first county courthouse, a wood frame structure built in 1856, was destroyed by fire in 1866. By 1890 Erath County was experiencing an economic boom. The railroad had reached this area in 1889, and local business increased as shipping opportunities improved. County commissioners called for bids to design a new courthouse in 1891. J. Riely Gordon submitted the winning design. The construction contract was awarded to S. A. Tomlinson of Fort Worth. Gordon, who became a nationally known architect, had designed two earlier buildings on the town square (the First National Bank and the Crow Opera House). He is well known for his Texas courthouse designs. A distinctive rendition of the Romanesque Revival style, this courthouse, completed in 1892, features striking use of locally-quarried limestone accented with Pecos sandstone. A 1988 restoration project included the addition of an adjacent courthouse annex. The central clock tower of the historic courthouse has been the most prominent feature of the surrounding landscape for more than a century. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1963
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Stephenville grew from a mid-1850s settlement and became the seat of newly formed Erath County in 1856. When the railroad arrived in 1889 it touched off an economic boom, and county leaders commissioned rising architect J. Riely Gordon to design this limestone Romanesque Revival courthouse, completed in 1892. Its central clock tower has dominated the town square ever since.
Why it matters
The courthouse captures how the railroad transformed a frontier county seat into a thriving commercial hub during Texas's Gilded Age.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John M. Stephen
- · J. Riely Gordon
- · S. A. Tomlinson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Historic Brick Streets of Stephenville
Stephenville, TX
In 1929 the Stephenville City Council set out to tame its dusty streets, hiring the Thurber Construction Co. to pave the town with the high-quality bricks made in nearby Thurber and prized by builders statewide. Laid over a macadam base, the brickwork was paid for largely by property owners even as the Depression loomed, and residents took pride in the durable new thoroughfares.
Doublin Inn
Dublin, TX
This site takes its name from a settler's alarm—'Indians a-coming! Double in!'—the cry to pull wagons together for defense. Alex Dobkins built the house here after his family settled on land his father-in-law, J. R. Holland, bought in 1846. Standing on the Fort Worth-to-Yuma stage line, the dwelling served as both a stage stand and a fort until raids in the area ceased around 1870.
Dublin National Bank
Dublin, TX
As the railroad arrived and cotton money flowed into newly incorporated Dublin, former railroad president John G. Harris and three partners founded the Dublin National Bank in 1893. It weathered the hard years, absorbing the town's only other bank in 1933, and has operated from the same spot ever since. Today it stands as the oldest continuously operating bank in Erath County.
Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge
Bluff Dale, TX
For decades travelers to Bluff Dale had to ford the Paluxy River, a crossing that grew busier once the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1889 and quickened wagon traffic through town. Around 1891 this iron suspension bridge—locals called it the "swinging" bridge—began carrying the main road west, later signed as State Highway 10 and U.S. 377. By the 1930s highway travel had outgrown it, and in 1934 the whole span was picked up and moved a mile and a half upstream to keep serving quieter local roads.