Camp County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it right along to you. Back in 1874, the Texas Legislature carved Camp County right out of the northern part of Upshur County. Fresh county, fresh start, and the voters didn't waste any time picking Pittsburg as their county seat.

Now, a new county needs a courthouse, and Camp County got its first one built in 1881. Not bad, not bad at all. But Pittsburg had ambitions.

The town kept growing, and that original building, well, it started feeling a little tight in the collar. By the time commissioners decided something had to be done, they were ready to think big. In 1928, they hired a Paris, Texas architectural firm, Smith and Praeger, to draw up plans for a new house of justice.

That phrase alone, house of justice, ought to tell you they weren't thinking small. The construction contract went to Wentzel and Wood, and those contractors delivered. The whole thing was completed in December of 1928.

What they put up was a Classical Revival courts building, the kind that makes you stand a little straighter just walking toward it. Stepped parapet up top, flat arched windows running along the facade, and Corinthian columns standing watch out front like they've been there since the Greeks invented serious business. And here's the part that lands: that courthouse is still there.

Still a central part of life in Camp County. Some things get built to last, and in Pittsburg, they knew exactly what they were doing.

What the marker says

The Texas Legislature created Camp County from the northern part of Upshur County in 1874, and voters chose Pittsburg as their county seat. The county built its first courthouse in 1881. As Pittsburg grew, the two-story brick edifice became too small for the county's needs, and in 1928 commissioners hired the Paris, Texas architectural firm of Smith and Praeger to design a new house of justice. Contractors Wentzel and Wood received the contract for the construction, which was completed in December 1928. The Classical Revival courts building features a stepped parapet, flat arched windows and Corinthian columns. Today, the courthouse remains a central part of life in Camp County. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2004