Lipscomb County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Lipscomb County Courthouse. Now settle in, because this one's got a little irony baked right into the foundation. Lipscomb County was established in 1886 and organized the following year, with Lipscomb named as the county seat.

The county itself was named for Abner S. Lipscomb, an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court back in the 1840s and 1850s. That's a respectable namesake.

And to start, the county made do with a one-story wood frame building as its courthouse. Humble, sure. Functional, yes.

But the county wasn't staying humble for long. Come the first decade of the twentieth century, the number of farms and ranches in Lipscomb County more than doubled. The population more than tripled what the 1900 census had counted.

That is not a slow simmer. That is a full boil. So in 1915, county voters approved the issuance of bonds for a new, larger courthouse, one that could actually handle the business of a growing county.

The commissioners court tapped William M. Rice of Amarillo to serve as both architect and general contractor. And for construction superintendent, they brought in Edward S.

Altmiller, a man who knew Lipscomb County work firsthand, having been the contractor for the 1910 Lipscomb County jail. Rice designed the new courthouse in the Classical Revival style. We're talking an arched doorway, a triangular pediment, Doric order columns over the entrance.

Style-defining features, as they say. Design and construction took place primarily during 1916, with the final details completed in early 1917. Now here's where the irony walks in and takes a seat at the head of the table.

Lipscomb, the county seat, is today the smallest town in the county. Largely, the marker tells us, the result of being bypassed by the railroad. The railroad went around it, and the town stayed small.

But Lipscomb kept its designation as county seat all the same. And that courthouse, the one Rice designed and Altmiller helped build, still dominates the town site. Still functions as the center of government and politics for county residents.

The railroad passed it by. The county never did.

What the marker says

Established in 1886 and organized the following year with Lipscomb as county seat, Lipscomb County was named for Abner S. Lipscomb, an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court in the 1840s-1850s. A one-story wood frame building served as the first county courthouse. During the first decade of the 20th century, the number of farms and ranches in the county more than doubled, and the population more than tripled that of the 1900 census. In 1915, county voters approved the issuance of bonds for a new, larger courthouse to serve the governmental functions of a growing county. The commissioners court selected William M. Rice of Amarillo as both architect and general contractor for the project. Edward S. Altmiller, who had been the contractor for the 1910 Lipscomb County jail, served as construction superintendent. Rice designed the courthouse in the Classical Revival style, with style-defining features such as the arched doorway and the triangular pediment supported by Doric order columns over the entrance. Design and construction took place primarily during 1916, with final details completed in early 1917. Despite its status as the smallest town in the county, largely the result of being bypassed by the railroad, Lipscomb retains its designation as county seat. The Lipscomb County courthouse, which dominates the town site, continues to function as the center of government and politics for county residents. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000