Glasscock County Courthouse and Jail
Garden City, Glasscock County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On May 9, 1893, a little over one month from the date of Glasscock County's formal organization, the first county commissioner's court issued bonds to erect a combination courthouse/jail building. L. T. Noyes of Houston, with the assistance of plasterer William T. Lovell, completed the structure on February 12, 1894. Originally, the ground floor of the building was used for court sessions and the second floor used as the jail. The 2-story stone building, later used only as a jail, features subtle Classical influences, including corner pilasters and a tall corbelled cornice. County bonds issued through the First State Bank of Garden City in 1909 were used to employ Mutual Construction Company, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, and architects Edward C. Hasford & Co., of Dallas, to build a new courthouse. The 2 1/2 story Classical Revival structure, constructed of 3-foot thick native stone from a local ranch owned by Steve Calverley, was completed on August 27, 1910. It features colossal Doric columns supporting its open pediment and a horizontal belt course which follows its 2nd floor window sills. The current Glasscock County Courthouse has been in continuous use since 1910. The original courthouse/jail structure was replaced by a new jail in 1980. Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks - 1962
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Barely a month after Glasscock County organized in 1893, its first commissioners' court issued bonds for a combination courthouse and jail, completed in 1894 with the ground floor for court and the upper floor for the jail. As the county grew, a grander 2½-story Classical Revival courthouse rose in 1910, built of three-foot-thick native stone quarried from a local ranch and crowned with colossal Doric columns. That 1910 courthouse has served continuously ever since, while the original building continued as a jail into 1980.
Why it matters
The pairing of a humble frontier courthouse-jail with its stately 1910 successor shows a sparsely populated West Texas county maturing into permanent, dignified self-government.
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Related people
- · L. T. Noyes
- · William T. Lovell
- · Steve Calverley
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Glasscock County
Garden City, TX
Glasscock County, created in 1887 and organized in 1893 with Garden City as its seat, honors George W. Glasscock (1810–68), a onetime flatboating partner of Abraham Lincoln in Illinois who came to Texas in 1834. He fought in the Texas War for Independence, built central Texas's first flour mill, and lent his name to Georgetown before serving in the state legislature. The marker also surveys how Texas's 254 counties were named — for patriots, revolutionaries, frontiersmen, statesmen, and Confederate figures.
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