Mason County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Mason County Courthouse. Now settle in, because this building has earned every one of its stories. Third time's the charm.

That's the quiet truth behind the Mason County Courthouse standing in Mason today. Constructed in 1909, it is the third courthouse to serve the people of Mason County, and given what happened to its predecessors, the fact that it's still standing at all feels like a minor miracle. Let's go back to the beginning.

The Commissioners Court probably met in other locations, wherever they could find a roof and a table, until the first permanent courthouse was built in 1872. That building didn't last long. It burned in 1877.

So that same year, they went right back to work and put up a second courthouse, this one in red sandstone. Now that second building did its job for a while. But Mason County eventually wanted something that matched its ambitions, something that said: we are here, and we intend to stay.

So they called on a designer named E. C. Hosford.

And Hosford delivered. For $39,796, Mason County got a Beaux Arts style courthouse with a center dome and a clock tower rising above the Texas Hill Country. Gable front porticoes.

Two-story Doric columns. Rusticated stonework set off by contrasting stone lintels. Every detail deliberate, every surface speaking the language of civic dignity.

That courthouse opened in 1909 and stood through more than a century of Mason County life. And then, in February of 2021, fire came again. The same fate that took the first courthouse in 1877 visited this one too.

Some stories don't end. They just remind you that in Mason County, they've rebuilt before.

What the marker says

Constructed in 1909, this is the third courthouse to serve the people of Mason County. Commissioners Court probably met in other locations until the first courthouse was built in 1872. It burned in 1877 and was replaced that year by a second red sandstone building. Designed by E. C. Hosford and built at a cost of $39,796, this Beaux Arts style courthouse features a center dome and clock tower, gable front porticoes with two-story Doric columns, and rusticated stonework with contrasting stone lintels. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988 Courthouse burned Feb. 2021.