DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little color on the side. Now, Roberts County isn't the kind of place that sneaks up on you. You crest a rise out on those Texas plains, and there it sits, right up on a grassy slope overlooking the town of Miami, like it was put there to make a point.
That's the Roberts County Courthouse, and it has been making that point since 1913. Built during a time when the oil and ranching industries were pushing regional economic development, this building showed up when the county had something to say about itself and needed the right address to say it from. The man behind the design was Elmer George Withers, an architect out of Stamford, and if you start counting his courthouses across Texas you'll get to six before you run out.
Roberts County's is one of them. He gave it Beaux Arts styling with simple Classical features, which is a way of saying it carries a certain dignity without putting on too many airs. For a rural county, that balance matters.
This wasn't just a building for judges and juries. It was the center of social and governmental life for the whole county, the kind of place where the big moments happened, where decisions got made and recorded and remembered. Perched up on that slope, looking out over Miami, the Roberts County Courthouse has watched a lot of history roll by.
And from the looks of it, it isn't done watching yet.
What the marker says
Prominently sited atop a grassy slope overlooking the town of Miami, the Roberts County Courthouse was built in 1913, during a time of regional economic development spurred by the oil and ranching industries. One of six Texas courthouses designed by architect Elmer George Withers of Stamford, the Roberts County Courthouse features Beaux Arts styling with simple Classical features. As the center of social and governmental activity for this rural county, the building has played an important role in the county's history. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000