DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, you're standing — or driving past — one of the grand old landmarks of San Antonio, and the story goes back a lot further than the building you see today. This is the tale of the Bexar County Courthouse, and it starts not in the 1890s, not even in Texas statehood, but in the year 1731, when Canary Islanders laid out a plaza on the south side of what we now call Main Plaza.
They called it La Plaza de las Islas back then. They set it as the beating heart of this place — administrative, judicial, the center of things. And here's what's remarkable: it still is.
Nearly three centuries on, that same ground is still where Bexar County conducts its business. Some places just have a gravity to them. This plaza is one.
Now, the building standing there today — this particular courthouse — is the fourth edifice to house county government since Texas entered the United States. Four. Which means three others came before it, each one presumably not quite up to the task the county eventually demanded.
By the time the 1890s rolled around, the citizens of Bexar County had made up their minds to do something serious. They authorized six hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars worth of bonds to finance the construction. That was not a small number.
That was a statement. And for a project of that ambition, they needed a designer with range. Enter James Riely Gordon — born 1863, died 1937 — an architect with a résumé that included many imposing public buildings, and at least one state capitol.
Gordon submitted the award-winning design, and it was Romanesque. Towers, arches, columns, carvings, fine interior details — the whole grand vocabulary of that style, realized in materials pulled straight from Texas soil: native Texas granite and red sandstone, massive and unapologetic. The foundation went down in 1891.
The builders were George Dugan, David Hughes, and Otto P. Kroeger. And when they were done — five years of work later — in 1896, what stood on that plaza was a courthouse of genuine distinction.
Towers roofed in green tile and red tile. Handsome columns. Arches.
Carvings. It had weight to it, in every sense of the word. The story doesn't stop there, though.
In 1914, and again in 1926, additions were made — and to their credit, both expansions continued using Texas granite and sandstone, keeping faith with what Gordon had designed. Then came 1963, 1970, and 1973, and those expansions, well, they employed other materials, and they also altered portions of the original design. Progress has a way of doing that — sometimes it builds on what came before, and sometimes it just builds over it.
But stand back far enough, and that Romanesque vision is still there, still presiding over the south side of Main Plaza, the same ground the Canary Islanders chose in 1731. Some things outlast the hands that made them. This courthouse is one.
What the marker says
This courthouse occupies the south side of Main Plaza, formerly called "La Plaza de las Islas", as originally laid out by the Canary Islanders in 1731. As it was then, this plaza is the administrative and judicial heart of Bexar County. This is the fourth edifice to house the government of the county since Texas entered the United States. The citizens authorized $621,000 worth of bonds in the 1890s to finance its construction. James Riely Gordon (1863-1937), architect for many imposing public buildings, including at least one state capitol, submitted the award-winning Romanesque design for this courthouse. The builders were George Dugan, David Hughes, and Otto P. Kroeger. The foundation was laid in 1891, and the structure was completed in 1896. Native Texas granite and red sandstone are basic materials of the massive building. Towers roofed in green tile and red tile, handsome columns and arches, carvings, and many fine interior details gave the edifice great distinction. Additions in 1914 and 1926 continued the use of Texas granite and sandstone. Expansions in 1963, 1970, and 1973 employed other materials, however, and also altered portions of the original design. (1976)