McCulloch County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it; I'm just along for the ride. Now, Brady, Texas. Seat of McCulloch County.

And if you're standin' in front of that courthouse right now, you're standin' in front of something that's been holding down that corner since 1900. But let's back up a little, because this story's got a first chapter worth tellin'. McCulloch County got itself organized in 1876, and Brady stepped up as the county seat right from the start.

Three years later, 1879, they put up a courthouse. First one. Did the job.

But by the turn of the century, they were ready to do it right. The second courthouse, the one standin' today, was completed in 1900. Same site as the first.

Like they were saying, we're not movin', we're improving. The contractors were Martin and Moodie, and the terms of the deal: "Turn key" construction. You know what that means; when Martin and Moodie were done, McCulloch County just had to turn the key and walk in.

Now here's where it gets satisfying. They used local labor and local materials as far as practical. Native sandstone, pulled straight from quarries right there in the county.

That building isn't just from McCulloch County; it's made of McCulloch County. The architecture they chose was Modified Roman, all those arch vaults doing what arch vaults have done since antiquity, transferring weight and looking magnificent while they're at it. And up top, a Victorian cupola, reaching skyward the way courthouses in that era were expected to do.

Inside, pine woodwork and pine flooring, fitted in at the time of construction. Sandstone walls, Roman arches, a Victorian crown, and pine underfoot. Four different ideas about what a building ought to be, and somehow, in Brady, Texas, in 1900, Martin and Moodie made them all shake hands.

That courthouse has been the heart of McCulloch County for well over a hundred years now. And it's still standin' on that same patch of ground they picked back in 1879. Some foundations, it turns out, you only have to choose once.

What the marker says

County organized 1876, with Brady as county seat; first courthouse built 1879. Present courthouse (second and on same site) completed 1900; Martin and Moodie, contractors, for "turn key" construction. Local labor and materials were used as far as practical. Native sandstone from local quarries. Modified Roman architecture employing arch vault. Victorian cupola; pine woodwork, flooring, at time of construction. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967