Jasper County Courthouse
Jasper, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Jasper County was one of the original twenty-three counties created when the Republic of Texas was established in 1836 following the Texas Revolution. Bevil settlement, established by pioneer John Bevil about 1824, became the seat of government and was renamed Jasper in 1835 in honor of American Revolutionary War hero William Jasper. The first county courthouse on this site, a two-room log structure, was destroyed by fire in 1849. It was replaced by a two-story building, completed about 1854. The present courthouse, constructed of locally made red brick, was completed in 1889. One year later a tower with a four-sided clock and bell was added. Additional wings were built onto the east and west sides of the structure in 1931, and the entire courthouse was covered with stucco. An adjacent office building was erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940, and the courthouse clock tower was removed in a 1957 remodeling project. The Courthouse Square, with its official buildings and landscaped grounds, continues to be a focal point of Jasper County activities.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Jasper County was one of the twenty-three original counties of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and its seat — the old Bevil settlement founded around 1824 — was renamed for Revolutionary War hero William Jasper. After an 1849 fire destroyed the first log courthouse, a succession of buildings followed, culminating in the 1889 red-brick courthouse whose clock tower, WPA annex, and later remodelings chart the county's changing fortunes.
Why it matters
The courthouse square has been the civic heart of Jasper County since the days of the Republic, embodying how frontier settlements matured into the enduring institutions of Texas local government.
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Related people
- · John Bevil
- · William Jasper
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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