Parker County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Parker County's got a courthouse with a story worth slowing down for. Built between 1884 and 1886, the thing cost fifty-five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five dollars and fifty-five cents.

Now somebody either had a real sense of humor, or the numbers just fell that way, but either way, that figure has a way of stickin' in your memory. The courthouse sits as the fourth in the county's history; Parker County having been organized back in 1856. And you want to talk about humble beginnings?

That very first year, when the county was brand new and there wasn't a proper building to speak of, court was held under an oak tree out on the Fort Belknap Road. Just an oak tree, the law, and whoever showed up. From that shade tree to a stone courthouse worth fifty-five thousand dollars and change, that's a journey.

Once the building went up, it became the scene of many noted trials. The kind of place where reputations were made and lost, where the law got tested in front of a crowd. And walking those floors, practicing in that very building, was a man named S.W.T.

Lanham, who would go on to serve as Governor of Texas from 1902 to 1906. The oak is long gone. The courthouse is still standing.

What the marker says

Scene of many noted trials. Built 1884-86. Cost $55,555.55. Fourth courthouse in history of county, organized 1856. An oak on Fort Belknap Road was court site that year. In this building practiced S.W.T. Lanham, who was Governor of Texas 1902-1906. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965.