Winkler County Courthouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. You know, some courthouses earn their keep just by bein' the courthouse. And then there are the ones that had to grow into something grander, because the ground beneath them suddenly became worth a whole lot more than dirt.

That's the story of the Winkler County Courthouse. It starts, as so many West Texas stories do, with oil. In 1926, oil was discovered in Winkler County.

And when that happened, well, things changed. The old 1910 structure that had been sitting on that site, doing its job, handling county business, suddenly wasn't enough anymore. The county needed something bigger.

Something that said: we are here, and we mean it. So in 1929 and 1930, they built it. A four-story classical revival and beaux arts building, designed by architect David Castle.

Four stories. Out here in the wide flat expanse of West Texas, four stories is a statement. Castle gave it distinctive two-story classical columns, decorative double-door surrounds and transoms, and paired and triple windows on the second and third floors.

Every detail was deliberate. This wasn't a building thrown up in a hurry. This was a courthouse designed to carry some weight, literally and otherwise.

Then, in the 1950s, a one-story addition was built onto it, because Winkler County kept on growing. The oil that rewrote this county's story didn't stop writing. And that courthouse, built on the same site where the old 1910 structure once stood, is still standing there today, columns and all, keeping watch over it.

What the marker says

Built in 1929-30 in response to the need for a larger courthouse after the discovery of oil in the county in 1926, this replaced a 1910 structure on the same site. Designed by architect David Castle, the four-story classical revival/beaux arts building features distinctive two-story classical columns, decorative double-door surrounds and transoms, and paired and triple windows on the second and third floors. A one-story addition was built in the 1950s. (1988)