A Collection of Courthouses

Lake LBJ

We spent a good deal of time exploring tiny towns on our road trip to Packsaddle, but on the way back we stopped at only a few places. We did spend some time at the county seats, read a few historical markers, and took a few pictures. There were some places that peeked our interest, plus a few we’ll run into along the way, and I’m sure that some later blogs will relate our trips back to these places that I’ll just highlight in this blog post.





Texas had 254 counties and, thus, 254 county courthouses. For a while

Burnet County Courthouse
Inset: Nine Scenes

we thought we’d visit each courthouse square and have something to eat at a place we might encounter there. After thinking about this plan, we thought maybe we’d do breakfast in one county and lunch in another. That plan went by the wayside, as well. Now we’ve decided that when we encounter a county courthouse, we’ll document it. The Burnet County Courthouse is an historic courthouse is a Moderne style building designed by Lewis Milton Wirtz of Columbus. It was constructed, in part, with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, and completed in 1937. My favorite part is the polished pink granite veneer with nine scenes of Burnet County history and commerce etched in panels. This pink granite is the same material as that used in the state capitol.

The statue of Sheriff Wallace W. Riddell attracted my attention so I had to

Burnet County
Jail and
Riddell Statue

find out just to whom it was a memorial. Sheriff Riddell was Texas' longest serving Sheriff (with 39 years, 1 month, 11 days of service). Just in back of the statue was what I thought was the courthouse, but was actually the Burnet County Jail. This jailhouse was built in 1884 with cells upstairs and the sheriff's office and living quarters downstairs. On second floor the county library was founded. It housed prisoners until 1982 when a new jail was constructed; It now houses juvenile detention facilities. The library is out of jail, too.








The Hamilton County Courthouse was originally built in 1887, then

Hamilton County Courthouse

underwent extensive renovations to modernize and expand the building in 1932. It’s a rather eclectic building with elements from Richardsonian Romanesque, the Neoclassical, and the Spanish Revival styles. The locally quarried limestone masonry has cast stone medallions of a cowboy, sheep, and a shorthorn cow. An elliptical concrete bench circles the courthouse, predating the 1932 remodel. It’s a pretty courthouse with its white dome gleaming in the sun.





The Lampasas County Courthouse was built in 1883 from plans provided

Lampasas County Courthouse

by Waco architect W. C. Dodson. Similar to other Dodson-designed courthouses in Hill, Hood, and Parker counties, the Lampasas County Courthouse was the first of the four to be built. However, it is smaller overall and in the height of the central tower, when compared to these other buildings. The courthouse is constructed of native limestone in the Second Empire and Italianate styles. The mansard roof treatment of this courthouse is of very limited height and is topped by a hip roof. Although it appears to be two stories because of the long windows and lighting, it actually has three.

Where we ate

Four and one-half carrots

Wiseman House Chocolates (406 W Grubbs St, Hico, TX 76457, 866-460-3571) is one of those places I visit if I’m anywhere in in the area. And

Chocolate displays

our drive took us right through Hico, so a stop was required. I bought lots of chocolate and managed to get most of it home. These folks have hand-made chocolate with various flavorings and fillings. My favorite is dark chocolate, this time enhanced with nuts, raspberry, coconut, and orange. These are so rich that I take one of the pieces and cut it in half. If Dave is home, I share with him – if not, well, it will go bad if left out too long.

Three and one-half carrots

Country Kitchen and Bakery (307 N Key Ave, Lampasas, TX 76550,

Left: Exterior of restaurant
Right T to B: BLT with chips, BLT with fries

512-556-6152) is advertised as a ‘Low-key restaurant serving hearty American grub, including breakfast, burgers and chicken-fried steak.’ We stopped in for a late lunch and, for a change, both ordered a BLT. Dave got his with chips, but I got fries. They were good sandwiches, as were the fries. We also got pop-overs to take home; these were okay, but not as good as I had hoped. The lunch menu included a buffet from which you could choose a light lunch (only included part of the buffet) or a regular lunch. The food looked good and lots of people were making this choice for their meal. Service and prices were good, so we’d visit this restaurant, again.

And, of course, road construction

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