Deaf Smith Courthouse, 1910

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Deep in Deaf Smith County, there stands a courthouse that doesn't just hold court, it makes a statement. Brick on the inside, marble veneer on the outside, marble on the inside too, this building came into the world with ambitions.

It was the second marble courthouse built in the entire United States. The second. In the whole country.

Deaf Smith County wasn't settling for anything less. The price tag was a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, which back in nineteen ten was enough to turn heads and raise voices all the way down Main Street. And raise voices it did.

Before one brick was ever laid, before one slab of marble was set in place, there was a bond issue election, and by all accounts it was hotly contested. Neighbors against neighbors, arguments spilling out of general stores and front porches across the county. But when the votes were counted, the measure passed, and Judge John Slaton and the winners were not quiet about it.

They paraded right down Main Street, the whole victorious procession following the band. You can almost hear it, brass and drums echoing off the storefronts, the judge up front, the crowd trailing behind, celebrating the courthouse that hadn't even been built yet. That's the thing about a town that earns something through a fight.

When the fight is over, they march. And that courthouse has been standing ever since, all marble and brick and hard-won civic pride, right there in Deaf Smith County.

What the marker says

Brick with marble veneer and interior. Second marble courthouse built in U.S. Cost was $125,000. After hotly-contested bond issue election, Judge John Slaton and winners paraded Main Street behind the band. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965