Val Verde County Courthouse Square
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1885 from sections of Crockett, Kinney, and Pecos Counties, Val Verde County was named for a Civil War battle in New Mexico which involved Texas Confederate Forces. The growing railroad town of Del Rio was chosen as the seat of Government and Commissioners set up offices in a commercial building on Perry Street, now South Main. Soon after formation of the county, the Limestone Jail was built here on a corner of the public square. During construction of the courthouse, it provided additional office space. A three-story annex to the building was completed later. The Limestone Courthouse was constructed at this site in 1887. Architects were A. O. Watson and Jacob Larmour of Austin, designers of Courthouses in Milam and Comanche Counties. Built by the contracting firm of Hood and McLeod, it features classical revival detailing and octagonal corner turrets. As the area population increased, the buildings were modified to provide for the expansion of services. A separate facility for the Sheriff's office and county prisoners was completed in 1956, and the old jail was remodeled for use by other departments. (1980)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1885 from parts of three surrounding counties, Val Verde County took its name from a New Mexico Civil War battle involving Texas Confederate forces, and it chose the booming railroad town of Del Rio as its seat. A limestone jail went up first on the public square, followed in 1887 by the limestone courthouse designed by Austin architects A. O. Watson and Jacob Larmour, with classical detailing and octagonal corner turrets. The complex was repeatedly enlarged as the region grew, gaining a separate sheriff's facility in 1956.
Why it matters
The courthouse square was the civic heart of a frontier railroad county, and its architecture reflects the confidence of West Texas towns coming of age.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · A. O. Watson
- · Jacob Larmour
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Eagle Pass, C.S.A.
Eagle Pass, TX
When Union forces seized the lower Rio Grande in 1863, Eagle Pass became a vital Confederate customhouse and port of entry, the western terminus of the famed Cotton Road. Oxcart trains hauled thousands of cotton bales from San Antonio across a dangerous, bandit-plagued road to be ferried into Mexico and traded for guns, medicine, and supplies. Fort Duncan and Camp Rabb guarded the crossing in a town that had voted overwhelmingly against secession, and citizens once fought off raiders from behind barricades of cotton bales.
Camp Rabb and Fort Duncan, C.S.A.
Eagle Pass, TX
During the Civil War, Camp Rabb was one of eighteen Confederate outposts strung a day's ride apart from the Red River to the Rio Grande, meant to guard against both Indian raids and Federal invasion. Named for a captain in the Frontier Regiment of Texas Cavalry, it watched a ford on the Cotton Road, the vital route by which Southern cotton reached market. Nearby Fort Duncan, a former U.S. post, protected that lifeline trade of cotton for arms and supplies against Union forces upriver.
Camp Hudson, C.S.A.
Del Rio, TX
When U.S. troops surrendered their Texas posts at the outbreak of the Civil War, Camp Hudson on the Devil's River became a Confederate frontier outpost from 1861 to 1862, manned by the 2nd Texas Cavalry. Its soldiers guarded the military road, escorted supply trains, and served as a base for the Confederate New Mexico campaign aimed at reaching the Pacific and choking off gold to the North. To pass the tedium, troops eager to fight for the Confederacy even produced a camp newspaper.
Roy Bean C. S. A.
Del Rio, TX
Kentucky-born Roy Bean was mining in New Mexico when the Civil War broke out, and he joined Confederate forces under Gen. John R. Baylor as a spy and scout, later hauling cotton and smuggled war goods as a Confederate freighter. Decades afterward he followed railroad crews to the Rio Grande, set up a tent saloon, and had himself made justice of the peace—'Law West of the Pecos'—dispensing famously eccentric verdicts from Langtry. His obsession with British actress Lily Langtry, whom he never met, and his 1896 riverbank prizefight cemented his frontier legend.