Atascosa County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Atascosa County Courthouse. Now settle in, because this building has a story that moves around quite a bit before it finally puts down roots. Atascosa County itself was carved out of Bexar County in 1856, and right from the start, things were humble.

The first county seat sat at a place called Navatasco, on land donated by Jose Antonio Navarro, and the courthouse they called home was a log cabin. Not exactly the stuff of grandeur. But Atascosa County was not content to stay small.

By 1858, the county seat had picked up and moved to Pleasanton, where they raised a frame courthouse to replace those rough-hewn logs. Then came a second courthouse in 1868. Then a third, a red rock structure, in 1885.

That is three courthouses in less than thirty years, and the county was not finished moving yet. In 1910, a special election resulted in the relocation of the county seat again, this time to Jourdanton. The county officers arrived and found themselves in rented quarters.

Temporary, they said. The following year, the Gordon-Jones Company began construction on something that was meant to last. And last it has.

The building was completed in 1912, designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps, born in 1881, died in 1945, a man who clearly understood what a county courthouse ought to look like. He would go on to design the Atascosa County Jail in 1915 as well, so Atascosa kept him busy.

Now, what Phelps gave Jourdanton is something worth slowing down for. A two-story brick building with identical entries on each side, so no face of it gets to feel more important than another. Mission Revival-style detail runs through the whole design.

Curvilinear parapets sweep along the roofline. Renaissance motifs show up here and there, accomplished with cast-stone highlights, metal balustrades, and tile roofing. And at each corner of the building, a three-story tower bay rises up, each one topped by an open belvedere.

Open to the sky, open to the South Texas air. Later years brought alterations. Original windows were replaced, and an elevator was installed opposite the original stairwell.

The building changed, the way buildings do when time keeps pressing. But it is still standing in Jourdanton, the fourth county seat of a county that started in a log cabin. Some things are worth the journey it takes to get there.

What the marker says

Atascosa County was created from Bexar County in 1856. The first county seat was at Navatasco, on land donated by Jose Antonio Navarro, and the county's first courthouse was a log cabin. The county seat was moved to Pleasanton in 1858, and a frame courthouse was erected. A second courthouse was built in 1868, followed by a third, a red rock structure in 1885. When a special election resulted in the relocation of the county seat to Jourdanton in 1910, the county officers were first housed in rented quarters. The following year the Gordon-Jones Company began construction on a new courthouse. Completed in 1912, the building was designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps (1881-1945), who would also design the Atascosa County Jail in 1915. The two-story brick building has identical entries at each side. Mission Revival-style detail includes curvilinear parapets and occasional Renaissance motifs, accomplished with cast-stone highlights, metal balustrades, and tile roofing. The corners of the building are turned with three-story tower bays, each topped by an open belvedere. Later alterations to the courthouse replaced original windows and installed an elevator opposite the original stairwell. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.