Gray County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Gray County, Texas, and a courthouse with a story worth slowing down for. Now, by 1928, the county seat had been moved away from Lefors, and a new home for Gray County justice needed to rise from the ground up.

So who do you call? You call W. R.

Kaufman and Son, out of Amarillo, that's who. And to do the building, Harland L. Case and Company, over in Pampa, got the contract.

What they put up together is something that still stops people in their tracks. The foundation they laid it on is Indiana limestone, solid and serious. Above that, a steel frame goes climbing skyward, and windows, lots of them, throw light in from every angle.

That combination gives the whole structure a modern feeling, even as it wraps itself in the traditions of beaux arts style with Georgian ornamentation layered on top. Now, beaux arts with Georgian touches is already a handsome recipe, but the Indiana limestone underneath and all that glass above make it feel like a courthouse that was looking forward even as it honored the past. April 19, 1930, that's the day it was dedicated, the new seat of Gray County made official and open for business.

And Kaufman, that designer out of Amarillo, he had a feel for this kind of work. He brought that same sensibility to Pampa's city hall and fire station, cut from a similar stylistic cloth. One man's vision, spread across the Texas Panhandle, building institutions meant to last.

And this courthouse, fine example of what beaux arts can be, is still standing right there in Gray County to prove the point.

What the marker says

A fine example of a beaux arts courthouse with Georgian ornamentation, this structure was erected after the county seat was moved from Lefors in 1928. The edifice was designed by W. R. Kaufman & Son of Amarillo and built by Harland L. Case & Co. of Pampa. It was dedicated on April 19, 1930. Built upon a foundation of Indiana limestone, the steel frame and many windows give a modern look to the traditional beaux arts style. Kaufman designed Pampa's city hall and fire station in a similar style. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997