Day Trip Stop 3: Cass County Courthouse (Texas No. 15) Revisited

Once I left Daingerfield I knew I wanted to go to Linden, another little town just 22 miles due west, because the last time I was there the Cass County Courthouse was in the process of being remodeled, and I just recently learned that the new renovations were substantially complete.  If you'd like to see the building and read a brief history of it, that photograph can be found here.  Just note that Cass County Courthouse is the second photo in that posting.  Well, here is the finished product:

Isn't she a beauty!  I'm sorry they took down the three but I'm sure once the landscaping is applied it will be outstanding.  This is one that had to be saved.  It is oldest continually operating courthouse in the state of Texas, having been constructed in 1861 during the Civil War.  A $4.4 million grant from the Texas Historical Commission made this interior/exterior renovation possible.

This little gem, in its 152-year existence, has been partially destroyed by a tornado, partially destroyed by  fire, and due to the many remodelings it has undergone the underlying structure of the building has been changed so much that it was architecturally impossible to restore it to the same design when first constructed.

As I was leaving Linden I happened to look in my rear-view mirror and this was the scene I saw.  I had to pull over and take one more shot of this picturesque little town.

It's a bit bleak-looking in the winter with no leaves on the trees and the power lines crisscrossing like cat's cradle but I think it has a special charm.  Like so many small Texas towns that serve as their county seat, the courthouse is an imposing structure and can generally be spotted as one of the first buildings you see upon arrival.

Linden has a population of 2,250 and Cass County has 30,000 residents.  Linden is 155 miles east of Dallas and 17 miles west of the Louisiana border.

Tomorrow:  A quick stop in Jefferson before heading home.