Montgomery County Courthouses

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Montgomery County, Texas. One of the oldest in the state, and the courthouse standing right there in the heart of downtown Conroe has seen more history than most buildings ever dream of.

Let me take you back to where it all begins. The Republic of Texas, December 14, 1837. Congress passes an act creating Montgomery County, the third county brought into existence by the Republic itself.

It started as part of the Washington municipality, and it came to be because settlers on the east side of the Brazos River sat down and wrote a petition. That petition worked. The original boundaries of this county were something to behold.

Spread out across what are now Grimes, Walker, San Jacinto, and portions of Madison and Waller Counties. That is a lot of Texas to govern. And the town of Montgomery stepped up as the first county seat.

Now, picture this: three separate courthouses served that county government. Two of them were small log cabins. The third, a two-story wood building.

That's it. That's what you got when you needed to conduct the business of one of the oldest counties in the Republic. This went on until 1889, when an election moved the county seat from Montgomery over to Conroe.

The transition needed a place to land, and so the home of Isaac Conroe became a temporary courthouse. In 1891, the first real courthouse was constructed on the very site where the building stands today. The bricks used to build it, and the jail across the street, were manufactured right there in Conroe.

Local bricks for a local institution. By 1909, repairs and changes had piled up enough that the exterior of that building was plastered over. Then came 1934.

The county commissioners court looked around and decided it was time to think bigger. They voted to build a new, larger courthouse, one with a jail on the fourth and fifth floors. Work got underway, and the present Art Deco-style courthouse was completed in 1936.

That timing was no accident. The Conroe oil boom had brought economic prosperity to the region, and a grand new courthouse was the kind of thing a booming county could afford. The story didn't stop there.

By 1966, Conroe and Montgomery County had grown enough that north and south wings were added to accommodate all of it. And so what started as two log cabins in the town of Montgomery, back when Texas was still its own Republic, became an Art Deco landmark in the middle of downtown Conroe. The marker says the courthouses of Montgomery County have been the center of political, civic, and business activity since 1838.

Some institutions earn that kind of sentence. This one did.

What the marker says

The Montgomery County Courthouse in the center of downtown Conroe memorializes the remarkable history of one of the oldest counties in the state of Texas. Montgomery County is the third county created by the Republic of Texas, originally part of the Washington municipality. It was established through an act of the Congress of the Republic on December 14, 1837, in response to a petition by settlers on the east side of the Brazos River. Original boundaries of Montgomery County included present-day counties of Grimes, Walker, San Jacinto and a portion of Madison and Waller Counties. The town of Montgomery served as the first county seat. Three separate courthouses (two small log cabins and one two-story wood building) served county government until 1889 when the county seat was moved to Conroe after an election. The home of Isaac Conroe served as a temporary courthouse until the first courthouse was constructed on this site in 1891. Red bricks, which were manufactured in Conroe, were used in the new courthouse and in the jail across the street. Many repairs and changes were made to the building, and in 1909 the exterior was plastered. In 1934, the county commissioners court voted to build a new, larger courthouse with a jail on the 4th and 5th floors. The present Art Deco-style courthouse was completed in 1936 during the economic prosperity caused by the Conroe oil boom. In 1966, due to the growth of Conroe and Montgomery County, north and south wings were added. The courthouses of Montgomery County have been the center of political, civic and business activity since 1838. (2013)