Victoria County Courthouse

Built in 1892 in Richardsonian Romanesque architectual style by architect James Riely Gordon by contractor Martin, Byrne, & Johnston.

J. Riely Gordon's firm of Gordon and Laub designed the Victoria County Courthouse in 1892 in the Romanesque Revival style. Martin, Byrnes and Johnston got the contract to build it and used native limestone ranging in color from yellow to gray. The interior arrangement marks a significant departure from the conventional cross-corridor plan. In the Victoria County Courthouse, as in the similarly designed Fayette County Courthouse, Gordon developed a functional plan allowing more natural lighting and ventilation. The offices and courtrooms were arranged around a 30-foot central atrium surrounded by a corridor into which offices opened, thus providing improved ventilation throughout the building. This arrangement, while basically symmetrical in plan, necessitated the placing of the tower in an off-center position. Typical of many nineteenth-century Texas courthouses, offices such as those of the county clerk, treasurer and tax assessor were located on the ground level while the two floor courtroom and judge's chambers were located on the second floor. A jury room and offices for the district clerk and county attorney were also on the second floor. Space for a grand jury room, offices and the courtroom balcony were provided on the third floor. The massing of the building is cubical, with arcaded porches wrapping around all four corners. The Roman arches of these porches are designed with cut-stone voussoirs supported by clusters of granite Syrian columns, above which are balconies with railings of stone in a checkerboard pattern. Three-story pavilions flank the entrances of each facade that echo the porches. Thin engaged columns accent the corners and window openings in these pavilions. The circular arched windows in the pavilions are two stories, and their spandrels are ornamented with rectangular insets containing festoons. Other noteworthy details are the gables, each of which is capped with an antefix. The tower, with its bell and clocks, emphasizes the east facade, while the other three elevations are virtually identical. The tower's square spire contains an open deck with cut stone lintels supported by granite Syrian columns. The cut stone details, ranging in color from gray to cream, contrast with the quarry-faced ashlar. A billet is formed below the cornice of the main portion of the building by alternating smooth and rough square stones set in a checkerboard pattern. The windows feature smooth cut Roman arches, voussoirs and archivolts. Further embellishments include features resembling bartizanÑdetails derived from ancient military architectureÑwhich are supported by corbelling at each corner. These are topped by finials and channeling in twisted configurations that characterize the chimney pots which rise above the high chimneys.

Currently used as annex.

Current status: existing