DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm basing this on what the official Texas Historical Commission marker has to say — so let's let the marker do the talkin'. Way down in the coastal lowlands of East Texas, there's a county named after a man with a name almost too grand for ordinary use — Major General Thomas Jefferson Chambers. Texas pioneer, by all accounts.
And in 1858, the state of Texas saw fit to carve out Chambers County in his honor. Now, every county needs a seat of government, and for the better part of half a century, that seat was Wallisville. Three courthouses rose and fell there — one in 1858, one in 1880, one in 1887.
That's a courthouse every decade or so, which tells you something about the ambitions, and perhaps the misfortunes, of early Chambers County. But here's where the story takes a turn that only Texas could deliver. When 1907 rolled around and the question of the county seat came up for an election, two forces tipped the scales away from Wallisville.
The first was Anahuac's rice canal system — progress, commerce, the promise of the future flowing through irrigation ditches. The second? Wild hogs.
At the Wallisville courthouse. You cannot make that up, and I am not making it up. The marker says what it says.
Rice canals and feral hogs decided the fate of a county seat, and by 1908, Anahuac was wearing the crown. The new county got to building right away. A courthouse was completed in 1912 — right here on this very location.
It was a statement of arrival: Renaissance Revival style, large columns, a stone exterior. Inside, they wired it for electric lights, ran telephone lines, installed indoor plumbing. Modern as the day was long.
But there is a detail in this building's story that cannot be glossed over. For African Americans, there was an outdoor bathroom. In 1912.
The building reflected the county's social history — and that part of that history is a wound, plainly visible in the record if you're willing to look. That courthouse stood for twenty-three years. Then, on April 28, 1935, it burned down.
Gone. But County Treasurer Grover C. Willcox had a vision — a modern courthouse, he said, in line with the growth of the town.
And the timing, for once, was favorable. Federal New Deal programs were flowing money into counties across America, and the Public Works Administration stepped up with funds. Designer Corneil G.
Curtis drew the plans. Contractor Robert E. McKee — described on the marker as notable, and the building backs that up — put his crews to work.
By May of 1937, a three-story ashlar limestone courthouse stood complete. This one spoke a different architectural language entirely. Art Deco and Moderne, the styles of the 1920s through the 1940s — vertical lines climbing the facade, geometric shapes, a symmetry that pulls your eye straight to the center, ornamentation that's confident without being showy.
It is a building that knows exactly what it is. And here's the thing about that 1937 courthouse — since it went up, little has changed. It has simply stood, holding the county's business, its elections, its disputes, its records, decade after decade.
So when you stand in front of the Chambers County Courthouse and you look at that limestone and those vertical lines, you are looking at something that has outlasted wild hogs and rice canals and fire and the whole churning passage of Texas history. The Texas Historical Commission made it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2018, and I'd say it has earned every letter of that designation.
What the marker says
Named after Texas pioneer Major General Thomas Jefferson Chambers, Chambers County was established in 1858. Until the early 20th century, Wallisville was the county seat and the location for the first three Chambers County courthouses. They were built in 1858, 1880 and 1887. Anahuac's rice canal system and the presence of wild hogs at Wallisville's courthouse prompted an election in 1907 that made Anahuac the county seat in 1908. After the election, the county constructed a new courthouse completed in 1912 at this location, the courthouse included a jail, indoor plumbing, telephones, electric lights and an outdoor bathroom for African Americans. The courthouse was built in the Renaissance Revival style, featuring large columns and a stone exterior. The building, however, burned down on April 28, 1935. In 1935, County Treasurer Grover C. Willcox desired a modern courthouse "in line with the growth of the town." As a part of Federal New Deal programs, the Public Works Administration contributed funds for a new courthouse. Designed by Corneil G. Curtis and built by notable contractor Robert E. McKee, construction finished in May 1937 on the three-story, ashlar limestone building. A combination of Art Deco and Moderne architectural styles (1920s-1940s), the courthouse's exterior showcases vertical lines, a symmetrical façade, geometrical shapes and simple ornamentation. Since its construction, little has changed about the county courthouse. Throughout its history, the Chambers County courthouse has not only acted as a focal point of the community but has also reflected the county's economic, political and social history. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2018