Williamson County Courthouse

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Now, Williamson County has had itself a few courthouses over the years. A few.

To be exact, four came before the one standin' today, which makes the current building the fifth courthouse to serve the citizens of Williamson County. Five. That is a county that has been through some buildings.

This one was completed in 1911, designed by the Austin architectural firm of Charles H. Page and Bro., and when they set out to build it, they were not thinking small. What went up was a Classical Revival structure, the kind of building that makes you straighten your collar just walkin' toward it.

Giant order Ionic columns. Say that slow: giant order Ionic columns. The kind of columns that remind you this is where the law lives, and the law has good posture.

Up top sits a copper dome, and that dome carries a four-faced clock so that no matter which direction you're comin' from on Georgetown's town square, time is not a thing you can claim you lost track of. And above it all, a Justice statue, keepin' watch. Now, some of the building's detailing was removed in the 1960s, and that's a loss worth noting, because what survived still qualifies as a fine structure by anybody's measure.

It anchors Georgetown's town square like a courthouse ought to, the kind of building that says the county has been here, intends to stay, and dressed up proper for the occasion.

What the marker says

Completed in 1911, this is the fifth courthouse to serve the citizens of Williamson County. It was designed by the Austin architectural firm of Charles H. Page & Bro. Although some of the building's detailing was removed in the 1960s, it remains a fine Classical Revival structure featuring giant order Ionic columns and a copper dome with four-faced clock and a Justice statue. It serves as a focal point for Georgetown's town square. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988