DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, friends — and it's a story worth telling right. Now, when you plant a town in Texas, you better know where the courthouse is going to stand. The founders of San Augustine knew.
When they platted that town in 1834, they looked at one particular piece of ground and said: this belongs to everybody. They set it aside as the public square, and they walked away. And then — well, then they took their sweet time about it.
Twenty years, to be precise. Twenty years before anybody actually built a courthouse on that spot. In the meantime, early courts were held in the Mansion Hotel, and by 1840 the county government had made itself at home in the federal custom house.
You work with what you've got. Now, San Augustine County wasn't some late arrival to the Texas story. It was one of the twenty-three original counties established after Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836.
Original. From the very beginning. So by 1854, when they finally put that first courthouse up on the public square, it was twenty years overdue and everybody knew it.
Then came 1890, and San Augustine decided to upgrade. They put up an Italianate structure — something with a little flair, a little style. But that building didn't make it to the finish line.
It was razed, cleared away, to make room for what stands there today. The County Commissioners Court, with county judge Ed Kennon presiding, made the call. They chose East Texas architect Shirley Simons to draw up the plans, and they handed the building work to the firm of Campbell and White.
What those men completed in 1927 was constructed of Texas Lueders stone — symmetrical in plan, with a prominent central entry bay, wearing the influences of Classical Revival architecture like a man who knows how to dress for the occasion. Now out on those grounds, the square that was reserved for the public all the way back in 1834, two monuments keep watch. One is a bronze statue of James Pinckney Henderson — first governor of the state of Texas, and a resident of San Augustine.
The other is a veterans memorial, erected in 1951. That square has been a gathering place for community and county events across the generations, just as those original founders seemed to know it would be. They set that ground aside in 1834.
They were patient. And what stands on it now — that 1927 courthouse of Lueders stone, a center of politics and government, an anchor of the city's twentieth-century architectural heritage — well, I'd say the wait was worth it.
What the marker says
San Augustine County Courthouse When the town of San Augustine was platted in 1834, this property was reserved for the public square, but it was another 20 years before the first courthouse was constructed here. San Augustine was one of the 23 original counties established after Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836. Early courts were held in the Mansion Hotel, and by 1840 the county government operated out of the federal custom house. In 1854, San Augustine County built its first courthouse on the public square. The subsequent courthouse, an 1890 Italianate structure, was razed to make room for the current building. Completed in 1927, the third San Augustine County Courthouse is constructed of Texas lueders stone. It is symmetrical in plan with a prominent central entry bay and exhibits influences of the Classical Revival style of architecture. The County Commissioners Court, with county judge Ed Kennon presiding, selected East Texas architect Shirley Simons as the designer and the firm of Campbell and White as the builders. Over the years, the square has been a gathering place for community and county events. Monuments placed on the grounds include a bronze statue of James Pinckney Henderson, first governor of the state of Texas and a resident of San Augustine; and a veterans memorial erected in 1951. The 1927 courthouse stands as a center of politics and government for the people of San Augustine County and an important part of the city's 20th-century architectural heritage. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2001