DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — this one's about the Early Courthouse Square in Fort Bend County, and friend, the ground underneath it has seen some history. It starts back in 1838, when two men — Robert E. Handy and William Lusk, the founders of Richmond — deeded this very square to Fort Bend County.
Set it aside, right then and there, for the business of governing. And the county took them up on that for a good long while. Two different courthouses stood on this ground over the years — one from 1850 to 1871, and another stretch from 1888 to 1909.
But the one that really made the square something to see was completed in 1888. A two-story brick Victorian courthouse, bell tower reaching up into the sky, clock ticking away for all the town to hear. The pride of the city and the county both.
You can almost picture folks stopping on the street just to look at the thing. Now here's where the story takes a turn, and I want you to sit with this one for a moment. Because barely a year after that courthouse was finished — 1889 — this very square became the site of a bloody shoot-out.
The Jaybird-Woodpecker political feud, they called it, a conflict that had been simmering all the way back through the post-Civil War era, and it all came to a head right here in front of that proud brick building. It culminated here. That clock tower was looking down on something the county would not soon forget.
The courthouse carried on after that, the way places do. But by 1909, the county offices moved on over to a new courthouse on Jackson Street, and this square had to figure out what it was going to be next. Turns out, it had another chapter in it.
For the next thirty years, it became the center of recreation for the community — a different kind of gathering than it had known before. And then in 1940, City Hall went up right here on the same ground where that Victorian courthouse once stood with its bell tower and its clock. From a founding deed in 1838 to a shoot-out to a recreation hub to City Hall — this square in Richmond didn't just hold the county's offices.
It held the county's whole story.
What the marker says
This square was deeded in 1838 to Fort Bend County by Robert E. Handy and William Lusk, founders of Richmond. It was site of 1850-1871 and 1888-1909 courthouses. Completed here 1888 was a two-story brick Victorian courthouse with bell tower and clock -- the pride of city and county. Jaybird-Woodpecker political feud culminated here in a bloody shoot-out in 1889, ending a post-Civil War era of conflict. County offices moved in 1909 to new courthouse on Jackson Street. This became center of recreation for next 30 years. City Hall was built here in 1940.