Gonzales Courthouse
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In county organized 1837, first courthouse burned 1893. This second one was built 1894-1896 at cost of $64,450.Headquarters for many Texas leaders; scene of important court decisions. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Gonzales County was organized in 1837, in the earliest days of the Republic of Texas, and after its first courthouse burned in 1893 this second one was raised between 1894 and 1896 at a cost of $64,450. Serving as a gathering place for Texas leaders and the setting for consequential court decisions, the building has anchored the civic life of a town already famous in Texas history. It remains a proud landmark of the county seat.
Why it matters
The grand county courthouse embodies the confidence and civic ambition of Gilded Age Texas towns, monuments in stone to local self-government.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
James W. Robinson
Gonzales, TX
Indiana-born James W. Robinson came to Texas in 1833 and was elected the Republic's first lieutenant governor in 1835, briefly serving as governor before shouldering a musket as a private at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836. He later settled in Gonzales, sat as a district judge, and served on the state Supreme Court. The office he first held became the second-highest in Texas, wielding broad power over the Senate and legislation.
Central Square
Gonzales, TX
In 1825, while Texas was still part of Mexico, the surveyor James Kerr laid out this town as the capital of Green DeWitt's empresario colony and named it for the governor of Coahuila and Texas. The plan set an inner town of forty-nine blocks, with this Central Square at its heart. It was one of the earliest Anglo-American colonial settlements in what would soon become a contested borderland.
Andrew Ponton
Gonzales, TX
Andrew Ponton came to Texas in 1829, settled in Green DeWitt's colony, and by 1834 served as alcalde—mayor—of Gonzales. When Mexican forces demanded the town's cannon in 1835, his delay in surrendering it helped spark the "Come and Take It" fight now remembered as the opening battle of the Texas Revolution. He also helped rally the Gonzales men, the "Immortal 32," who answered Travis's call and died at the Alamo, and he later served the Republic of Texas as a legislator and judge.
Military Plaza
Gonzales, TX
When Gonzales was laid out in 1825 as the capital of Green DeWitt's colony, its plan followed the traditional Spanish town design mandated by the governor of Coahuila and Texas. Surveyor James Kerr, DeWitt's agent, and his assistant Byrd Lockhart platted the settlement's public squares, designating this one Military Plaza. The town would soon become famous as the site of the first shot of the Texas Revolution.