Scurry County Courthouse Site and Building
Snyder, Scurry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Seat of justice for Scurry County, created 1876 and organized 1884. Local landholders--R. H. Allen, Fred Barnard, R. H. Looney, C. C. McGinnis, C. H. McGinnis, T. N. Nunn, W. H. Snyder and H. A. Travekes--donated lots in center of town for the courthouse square. Bonds for construction were purchased by local citizens. The original 2-story courthouse of locally made red brick was built in 1886 in northeast corner of the square, on site of a former buffalo trail. A jail, built farther northeast, was joined to courthouse by a corridor. Board sidewalks led to the building. A chain hitching rail for horses enclosed the square. The public windmill, focus for civic and social gatherings, was located in the center of the square. The commissioners court designated the boundaries of the four county precincts according to the north, east, south, and west lanes approaching the courthouse and these precinct boundaries are still used. The first courthouse was razed in 1911, after the present one was erected, 1909-11. This building had a dome, which was removed in 1950 remodeling. A part of the old square is now paved, as today's courthouse visitors require auto space rather than the watering trough and hitching rail. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Scurry County was created in 1876 and organized in 1884, and local landholders donated the lots at the center of town for a courthouse square built atop a former buffalo trail. Citizens themselves bought the construction bonds, and a two-story courthouse of locally made red brick went up in 1886, complete with board sidewalks, a chain hitching rail, and a public windmill that served as the town's social hub. The present courthouse replaced it in 1909–11, and the old precinct boundaries laid out along the lanes approaching the square are still in use.
Why it matters
The square captures how West Texas frontier towns organized themselves around the courthouse, turning open range into governed county seats within a single generation.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Scurry County
Snyder, TX
Scurry County was created in 1876 from older Texas territories and organized in 1884, with Snyder as its seat. It honors General William R. Scurry, a member of the last Congress of the Republic of Texas and a Confederate officer killed in 1864. The county's founding was part of the steady organization of West Texas as settlement pushed onto the plains.
County's First Law Men
Snyder, TX
When Scurry County organized in 1884, W. W. 'Uncle Billy' Nelson became its first sheriff and authorized a tiny 8-by-10-foot frame 'calaboose' for a jail — but he resigned after six months, worn down by unruly cowboys. His successor, T. J. Faught, won the cowhands' respect by quieting a rowdy saloon crowd with a wooden pool cue and, though he never wore a gun, served three terms from 1886 to 1892. A street in the original Snyder town plat was named for him, now 27th Street.
Home County of Famous Frontiersman J. Wright Mooar
Snyder, TX
Vermont-born J. Wright Mooar came west at nineteen and, with his brother, established the first buffalo-hunting camp in the Texas Panhandle in 1873. Over his career he shot an estimated 22,000 bison — including a rare albino whose hide his descendants still preserve — and later supplied game to railroad crews and turned to ranching. His marksmanship earned the respect of Comanche chief Quanah Parker, who became his friend.
Site of The MacKenzie Trail
Snyder, TX
After the Civil War, the U.S. Army pushed to secure the West Texas frontier, and Colonel Ranald S. MacKenzie became the central figure in the campaigns against the Comanche and their allies. From forts like Griffin and Concho he blazed supply routes across the Plains toward Palo Duro Canyon, where in 1874 his troops broke the power of the Southern Plains tribes. The trail crossing near Snyder was so well known that the town's 1881 townsite abstracts referenced 'The MacKenzie Trail' as a landmark.