DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to pass it along right. Wharton County got its start in 1846, when the Texas legislature carved it out of part of Stephen F. Austin's original land grant from Mexico — prime ground with a history already older than the county itself.
The William Kincheloe family donated land on the east bank of the Colorado River for a courthouse square, and in the meantime, the home of first county treasurer Daniel Kincheloe pulled double duty as a temporary courthouse. A framed building went up in 1848, a two-story brick building followed in 1852, and both of them served on Monterey Square for the better part of three decades before Wharton County started looking around and thinking — maybe it's time for something grander. Now, not everybody agreed on that.
Judge W.J. Croom was all for a new building. But A.H. 'Shanghai' Pierce — and that name alone tells you something about the man's presence — along with G.C.
Duncan, led a group of landowners who signed a petition and filed injunctions to stop the county from proceeding. That's right. They went to court to stop the courthouse.
Litigation held the whole thing up, but by November of 1888 the commissioners court had ordered plans from Houston architect Eugene T. Heiner, a founding member of the Texas State Association of Architects — an organization that had only just formed in 1886. Heiner was no stranger to Wharton County either.
He'd go on to design Judge Croom's own home in 1895, the Wharton Public School in 1899, and a spread of public, commercial, and residential buildings across Texas. The courthouse he drew up was something to behold. Completed in August of 1889, it came dressed in Second Empire and Italianate styling — a mansard roof decorated with pediments and truncated roofs, limestone detailing, arched windows, corner quoins, and a tall central clock tower rising up over the Colorado River valley.
And those salmon-colored bricks? They came from clay deposits right out of the Colorado River itself. The county was literally building its justice out of its own ground.
It stood that way for decades, proud and particular, until the 20th century got its hands on it. Architect J.W. Dahnert made major alterations in 1935, and Wyatt C.
Hedrick followed in 1949 — new wings, new entries, features removed, and the whole exterior finished over in stucco in the Moderne style. The old courthouse was still standing, but you'd have had to look hard to find it under all that. The altered structure served Wharton County on into the 21st century, when something the marker calls unique and far-reaching unfolded — a preservation effort that resulted in the courthouse's full restoration.
Shanghai Pierce and his injunctions couldn't stop it in 1888. Time and renovation couldn't erase it forever. That courthouse came back.
What the marker says
The Texas legislature created Wharton County in 1846, incorporating part of Stephen F. Austin's original land grant from Mexico. The William Kincheloe family donated land on the east bank of the Colorado River for a courthouse square, and the home of first county treasurer Daniel Kincheloe served as a temporary courthouse. A framed building (1848) and two-story brick building (1852) served as courthouses on Monterey Square until the county considered a new edifice in the 1880s. Judge W.J. Croom favored a new building, while A.H. "Shanghai" Pierce and G.C. Duncan led several landowners in signing a petition and filing injunctions to stop the county from proceeding. In 1888, the commissioners court ordered plans from Houston architect Eugene T. Heiner for a courthouse and jail. Heiner, a founding member of the Texas State Association of Architects in 1886, also designed Judge Croom's home (1895), Wharton Public School (1899), and other public, commercial and residential buildings in Texas. Litigation delayed construction on the courthouse until November 1888. Completed in August 1889, it featured Second Empire and Italianate styling, including a mansard roof decorated with pediments, truncated roofs, limestone detailing, arched windows, corner quoins, and a tall central clock tower. The salmon-colored brick came from Colorado River clay deposits. Major alterations by architects J.W. Dahnert (1935) and Wyatt C. Hedrick (1949) resulted in new wings and entries, removal of features, and stucco exterior finish in the Moderne style. The altered structure served the county until the 21st century, when a unique and far-reaching preservation effort resulted in its full restoration. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2007