Denton County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and friend, this one's got layers worth peeling back. We're talking about the Denton County Courthouse, fifth one they ever built, and if you know anything about the first four, you start to understand why they kept having to start over. The county's first courthouse stood at Alton.

The second went up at Pinckneyville. And by the time they got to the third one, right there in Denton itself, well, that's where things get interesting. That third courthouse burned.

And the crime of burning it was charged to a member of the Sam Bass Gang of outlaws. Let that settle for a second. Not a storm, not an accident, not a candle left burning.

A member of one of the most notorious outlaw gangs in Texas history. So you can imagine the good people of Denton County had strong feelings about building something that would last. They put up a fourth courthouse, and then, for reasons the marker doesn't dwell on, a fifth.

Built between 1896 and 1897, and this time they were not playing around. The walls are native limestone. The columns are Burnet County marble.

The architecture is described as a free combination of Victorian styles: French second empire pavilions, fanciful ogival domes. Fanciful. That word's right there on the marker, and it earns its place.

The man who designed all this was architect W. C. Dodson.

And the contractor who built it, a fellow named Tom Lovell, is said to have also built the Utah Capitol. The Utah Capitol. So Denton County got a courthouse from a man who apparently had a habit of constructing things meant to stand for the ages.

After everything that came before, the moves, the fire, the outlaw, the fresh starts, they finally built something nobody was going to burn down and walk away from. That courthouse is still standing in Denton today, limestone and marble and ogival domes reaching up like they've got something to prove. And honestly?

They earned that.

What the marker says

Built 1896-97. Fifth courthouse for Denton County. First was at Alton, second at Pinckneyville. Third (in Denton) was burned in crime charged to a member of the Sam Bass Gang of outlaws. Walls are native limestone; columns, Burnet County marble. Architecture is free combination of Victorian styles, with French second empire pavilions, fanciful ogival domes. Architect was W. C. Dodson; contractor Tom Lovell is said to have built Utah Capitol. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1970