DUANE
Duane's take
Well, this one comes straight off the official marker — let me tell it the way it deserves to be told. Now, every county needs a courthouse, and Karnes County figured that out early. Back in 1854, they threw up their first one right there in Helena — county seat, important stage stop running between San Antonio and Goliad.
Helena was the place to be. That courthouse stood until a storm came along about 1865 and settled the argument for them. So they built a new stone courthouse in Helena in 1873, and you'd think that was the end of it.
You would be wrong. See, the 1880s brought a new kind of power to Texas — iron rails and the men who laid them. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was drawing up a route from San Antonio to the coast, and every town along the way knew what a railroad meant.
It meant survival. Helena knew it too. But when it came time to donate land or raise enough cash to bring that line through town, the citizens of Helena came up short.
They just didn't deliver. Now, a man named W.G. Butler was paying attention.
He donated land west of Helena — right through what is now Karnes City — and just like that, the railroad had its route. The line went through Karnes County in 1886 and 1887, and it did not stop in Helena. It didn't even look back.
A town called Karnes City was established right there on that railroad corridor in 1891, and it moved fast. By 1893, it had surpassed Helena in both population and political clout. On December 21, 1893, Karnes City was named the new county seat.
Helena, that proud old stage stop, had been outrun by a town that was barely two years old. The county didn't waste a moment. On January 4, 1894, they let bids for a new courthouse and jail.
Two prominent Texas courthouse designers threw their names in — Alfred Giles and J. Riely Gordon, serious men with serious reputations. But the contract went to John Cormack, a builder who had already put up courthouses in Concho, Somervell, and Uvalde counties.
The man knew his work. Tragically, Cormack died before he could finish what he started. His business associate, J.A.
Austin, stepped in and saw the job through. The courthouse was dedicated on October 25, 1894, and completed on May 29, 1895. And what a thing they built.
Three stories of brick with rusticated stone trim, Second Empire and Richardsonian Romanesque elements all at once — projected mansard towers, cylindrical corner towers, and a central clock tower rising above it all. It was the kind of building that told you exactly where the county seat was, from a good distance away. But the years have a way of doing what storms and railroads do.
Alterations starting in the 1920s left their mark — two additions on the west side, the original clock tower taken down, the conical roofs of those corner turrets removed, stucco plastered right over the brick, and the south entrance blocked off. Piece by piece, the courthouse lost the face it was born with. Then, in 2011, they started setting things right.
Construction ran all the way to 2018, and when it was done, the Karnes County Courthouse stood once again the way John Cormack and J.A. Austin left it in 1894 — towers and turrets and all. Helena lost a railroad, lost a county seat, and faded into the brush.
But the courthouse that rose in its place is still standing in Karnes City, restored to its original appearance, telling the whole story to anyone willing to look up.
What the marker says
In 1854 Karnes County erected its first courthouse in the county seat of Helena, an important stage stop between San Antonio and Goliad. The original courthouse was destroyed in a storm about 1865 and a new stone courthouse was built in Helena in 1873. In the 1880s the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was planning a route from San Antonio to the coast. The citizens of Helena did not donate land or raise enough cash for the railroad. At this time, W.G. Butler donated land west of Helena through what is now Karnes City. As a result, the railroad bypassed Helena as it built a line through Karnes County in 1886-87. By 1893 the railroad town of Karnes City, established here in 1891, had surpassed Helena in population and political clout. Karnes City was chosen as the new county seat on December 21, 1893. Karnes County officials let bids for a new courthouse and jail on January 4, 1894. They received bids from prominent Texas courthouse designers, Alfred Giles and J. Riely Gordon, but awarded the courthouse contract to John Cormack, who also built courthouses in Concho, Somervell and Uvalde counties. Cormack died before finishing the structure and his business associate J.A. Austin completed the job. The courthouse was dedicated on October 25, 1894, and completed on May 29,1895. The three-story brick courthouse with rusticated stone trim featured Second Empire and Richardsonian Romanesque elements with projected mansard towers, cylindrical corner towers and a central clock tower. Alterations beginning in the 1920s resulted in two additions on the west side, removal of the original clock tower and the conical roofs of the corner turrets, stucco applied over the brick and blocking off the south entrance. Construction beginning in 2011 and completed in 2018 restored the courthouse to its original (1894) appearance. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2010