The Wise County Courthouse in Decatur is one of Texas' most beautiful courthouses, at least in my opinion. You can see how large and imposing it is as it sits atop a small rise in the center of the downtown square and how it dwarfs the surrounding vehicles.
Constructed in 1897 and designed by noted San Antonio architect J. Riely Gordon, the final cost of construction was a whopping $110,000!
Similar to Gordon's nearby Ellis County Courthouse, its architectural plan is based on a cruciform (a Greek cross), and a Romanesque Revival style so successfully utilized in Gordon's designs.
The exterior is of two colors of Texas granite and the turrets and friezes are crafted from terra cotta.
These photos were taken in August 2012 during a courthouse trip I made to the Dallas area.
Wise County has a population of 59,000. The LBJ Grasslands partially lie within the boundaries of Wise.
Decatur, the county seat, is located 25 miles northwest of Ft. Worth and has a population of only 6,000.
10 comments:
I continue to be impressed with the amount of information you give us re. the Courthouses. This one is a real beauty; the stones are remarkable and lovely.
This one looks like a castle. I love it. I really like your passion of courthouses.
It has elements that remind me of castles. Hopefully they will maintain and preserve this building as time goes by.
it looks like a castle, a beautiful castle and I agree, it is my favorite so far that you have posted... hate to think what it would cost to build that these days, can't even count that high.
A magnificent building!
imposing is right. i agree - castle.
This has got to be one of my favorite so far. It looks like an English castle. Very extravagant for a county with only 59,000. A structure like this one is a photographers dream.
This place is simply amazing. It makes me think of some gorgeous old buildings I've seen in Europe. I can certainly see why you have gone in search of these grand places. I never would have thought so many incredible buildings could be found wondering around the state of Texas.
I don't know how I missed this one. Wow! Such a beautiful building, and I love your research on it.
Did you get to go inside?
Cheers,
Jo, Stella and Zkhat
What a beautiful building. It´s really more a castle than a house. Nowadays no county could effort such a very special courthouse.
I´m sure there are tons of photos taken from.
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