Hunt County Courthouse, 1929

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Hunt County has gone through courthouses the way some counties go through sheriffs, and by 1929 they were ready to build number seven. Seven.

That's not a typo. But when they finally decided to get it right, they got it right. They brought in W.

R. Ragsdale and Sons out of Greenville and Page Brothers out of Austin, and between those two outfits they raised up a six-story building right there in Hunt County. Six stories.

For a courthouse in 1929, that is not a modest statement. That is a declaration. Now here's the part that makes this building interesting to a person who pays attention to such things.

It sits right at the crossroads of two architectural worlds. Classical revival on one side, art deco on the other, and this courthouse is standing there in the middle going, I'll take a little of both, thank you. Solid masonry construction, so this thing is not going anywhere.

Stone steps leading up to triple-arched doorways at the main entries, decorative terra cotta detailing, metal sash windows. It is serious, and it is beautiful, and it means it. And here is maybe the most remarkable thing of all: it remains the seat of county government to this day.

Seven courthouses to get here, and they have not needed an eighth. Sometimes you build the one that lasts.

What the marker says

Built in 1929 as the seventh Hunt County Courthouse, this building was designed by W. R. Ragsdale & Sons of Greenville and Page Brothers of Austin. The 6-story building depicts a transition from classical revival to art deco architecture. It features solid masonry construction, stone steps leading to triple-arched doorways at the main entries, decorative terra cotta detailing and metal sash windows. It remains the seat of county government. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1995