Crosby County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Crosby County Courthouse. Now, you'd think building a courthouse would be the straightforward part. Pick a spot, hire an architect, get it done.

But Crosby County, well, Crosby County had a few things to work out first. It started with a vote. In 1910, Crosby County voters chose a new town, Crosbyton, as their county seat.

Simple enough, right? Except it wasn't. What followed were election disputes, and those disputes didn't just fade away over a handshake.

They went to the courts. Two full years passed before the courts finally resolved the matter. Two years.

Once that was settled, the Crosby County commissioners got down to business. They needed a courthouse worthy of a county seat, and they turned to a Fort Worth architect by the name of M. L.

Waller. Now Waller didn't think small. He designed the building in the Neo-Classical style, giving it a full-height entry with a triangular pediment held up by columns.

The kind of building that tells you, plain as day, that something serious happens inside. For the actual construction, the commissioners brought in contractor S. Goodrum out of Sweetwater.

Goodrum got it done. By late 1914, the Crosby County Courthouse was complete, standing in Crosbyton, the town that had fought for the right to have it. And it's been the center of politics and government in Crosby County ever since.

Some buildings earn their place. This one had to win it first.

What the marker says

Two years after Crosby County voters chose the new town of Crosbyton as their county seat in 1910, the courts finally resolved the subsequent election disputes, and the Crosby County commissioners set about the business of constructing a new courthouse. Fort Worth architect M. L. Waller designed this building in the Neo-Classical style, featuring a full-height entry with triangular pediment supported by columns. Contractor S. Goodrum of Sweetwater completed the courthouse in late 1914, and it has served as the center of politics and government in Crosby County since that time. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000