Leon County Courthouse

Duane's take

The official marker tells the story, and here's my telling of it. Now, some buildings just stand there. They take up space, they do their job, they don't make a fuss.

And then there are buildings like the Leon County Courthouse, the kind that have been watching over a piece of Texas so long they've earned the right to be a little proud about it. This one goes back to 1887, built of slate brick, locally made. Not shipped in from somewhere else, not imported from a catalog back East.

Made right there, from the ground up, by the people who needed it. And it is still standing in its original state, which, when you start counting up how many Texas courthouses can say that, the list gets short in a hurry. Leon County itself goes back to 1846.

The county was created that year, and it needed a seat, a place to plant the flag of civil order. That seat was Leona, for a time. Then, in 1850, the whole operation moved to Centerville.

And when it got there, it needed a place to do its business. Before the 1887 courthouse rose on that site, two earlier courthouses had already occupied the same ground. Two whole courthouses, come and gone, before the slate-brick one that's still there today.

There's something in that worth sitting with for a moment. Three courthouses on one patch of Texas earth. The first two did their time and passed on.

The third one just kept going. Built in 1887, locally made, still standing as built. Leon County got it right on the third try.

What the marker says

Built 1887 of slate brick, locally made. One of oldest Texas courthouses still in its original state. County created in 1846. County seat was moved from Leona to Centerville in 1850. Two earlier courthouses have occupied this site. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966