Gonzales County Courthouse (Texas No. 40)

While visiting San Antonio over the Christmas holiday I had the opportunity to sneak in a few more photos to add to my Texas historic courthouses series, and the Gonzales County Courthouse in Gonzales, Texas, proved to be one of the winners.

This 1894 beauty was designed by my favorite courthouse architect, J. Gordon Reily.  The Romanesque Revival structure is constructed of red brick and limestone.

Gonzales is a small town rich in Texas history.  It was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution in 1835 between 18 Gonzales citizens and 100 Mexican soldiers who had been sent from San Antonio, 75 miles to the west, to retrieve a small cannon which had been granted to the settlement in 1832 for protection against Indian attacks.  A few months later Gonzales contributed 32 volunteers to the defense of the Alamo in San Antonio, all of whom lost their lives.  The widow of one of the  Alamo defenders fled back to Gonzales with news of the massacre, and Gen. Sam Houston, who was in town organizing Texas forces, anticipating Gonzales would be the next target of the Mexican army, ordered the town to be burned to deny it to the enemy.  Gonzales was eventually rebuilt on the original site throughout the 1940s.

The Clock Tower

Gonzales has many Tudor Revival, Greek Revival, and Queen Anne style homes.  I think it deserves a return visit when I have more time to spend a whole day exploring this wonderful little city of 7,000 people.

Gonzales is 260 miles south of Dallas and 135 miles west of Houston.