DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Grimes County Courthouse. Now, every courthouse has its stories. But not every courthouse has a story that ends with a gangster cursing it to the devil.
That one we'll get to — but first, let's go back to where it all began. The ground this courthouse sits on was part of an 1824 land grant from Mexico. Think about that for a moment.
Empires came and went, the Republic of Texas rose and fell, the state of Texas took shape — and through all of it, this particular piece of earth kept right on mattering. The site was donated in 1850 by Henry Fanthorp, recognized as the first permanent settler in the county. Donated it.
Gave it over for the public good. That's the kind of foundation, literal and otherwise, a place builds on. This is the third courthouse to stand on that donated ground.
Three times Grimes County has said: we need something worthy of this spot. The one standing today went up in 1891, built of hand-molded brick with native stone trim — and folks, that is not a building thrown together in a hurry. Someone was making a statement.
It is, as the marker rightly calls it, a unique Victorian Texas public building. And it looks the part. Now here's the detail that stops you cold if you think about it long enough.
That vault inside? The very same vault used in the previous courthouse buildings. It has twice withstood fires.
Twice. Whatever was sealed inside that vault, Grimes County was not about to lose it. The courthouse walls may have fallen around it, the smoke may have rolled, but that vault held.
Some things in this county are simply not for burning. And then there's the story the marker saves for last, tucked right at the end like a lit match in a coat pocket. In the 1930s, a member of the Clyde Barrow gang stood trial in that courthouse.
And when it was over — however it went — that individual made his feelings known. Vowed he'd see this court in infernal regions before he'd answer to it again. Well.
The courthouse is still standing. Hand-molded brick, native stone trim, that fireproof vault holding whatever it holds. Still standing right there on Henry Fanthorp's donated ground.
Some vows, it turns out, cut both ways.
What the marker says
Unique Victorian Texas public building. Third courthouse here. Site, in an 1824 land grant from Mexico, was donated 1850 by Henry Fanthorp, first permanent settler in county. Built 1891 of hand-molded brick with native stone trim. Vault is same one used in previous buildings; has twice withstood fires. Tried here in 1930s, a Clyde Barrow gang member vowed he'd see court in infernal regions. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965