Anderson County Courthouse
1 Public Sq., Palestine, TXAnderson County Courthouse is a Beaux Arts style courthouse built in 1914. It is the third courthouse to serve Anderson County. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places at the statewide level of significance under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The period of significance is the construction date of 1914.
The Anderson County Courthouse is one of the most architecturally significant early 20th century courthouses in east Texas, and is the seat of Anderson County government. Built in 1914 during one of the most prosperous periods of the county's history, the building is an excellent example of Classical Revival architecture, designed by Page Brothers, Architects, and is one of the few examples of this style in the county and one of the most intact in the state. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places at the statewide level of significance under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The period of significance is the construction date of 1914. Anderson County marks a gateway between the blackland prairies to the west, and the hilly forests of deep east Texas. The county was created and organized in 1846 out of the northern part of Houston County and was named for Kenneth L. Anderson, Vice-President of the Republic of Texas from 1844 until annexation in 1845. Anderson County has a diversity of natural resources, agricultural products, and industries. Palestine was founded in the 1830s and made the county seat in 1846 and is a center of transportation and agribusiness. It is served by the Missouri Pacific (originally International & Great Northern) and the Southern Pacific (originally Texas and New Orleans) Railroads. Palestine and Anderson County's population doubled from 1870 to 1880 and continued to increase until 1940. With the coming of the railroad, much of the commercial activity in Palestine shifted from the area around the courthouse (Old Town) to the area near the I&GN station, offices and shops known as New Town. As prominent new buildings were erected in the city they were typically in New Town, including the Carnegie Library (1914, NR 1988), the Federal Building (1913), and most of the city's churches, banks, shops, and hotels. In 1913 the third courthouse to serve Anderson County burned. It was a Second Empire style building constructed in 1885. The first three Anderson County courthouses had been in the original courthouse square. In direct opposition to the move away from Old Town, the county commissioners chose to construct a new courthouse in a grand style on the historic courthouse square, and thus maintain the important symbolic seat of civic government in the original town development and its proximity to the existing jail one block to the southeast. Despite the economic shift from Old Town to New Town, the two were never completely isolated from one another. A visual link was maintained by Avenue A, the only southwest/northeast diagonal artery in an otherwise north/south oriented rectilinear city. The commissioners chose Charles Henry Page and Louis Charles Page of Austin, Texas, as the courthouse architects. The Page brothers had moved to Austin in 1886 from St. Louis and established their firm. Page Brothers, Architects, in 1898. They had recently completed two notable classically styled buildings, the Smith County Courthouse in Tyler (1910) and the Littlefield Building in Austin (1912, NR 1975). From the 1900s through 1920s the Page brothers designed many public buildings with fine classical detailing and versatility in classical form. Their firm was sought to produce a sophisticated image the county commissioners felt suited their center of government.
Both the Classical Revival and Beaux Arts styles were very popular courthouse designs throughout the state. The Anderson County Courthouse is a variation of a typical Beaux Arts plan. It is formally organized, bi-axial and has a central rotunda that provides a focus. Typical exterior Beaux Arts treatment of the elevations include a heavy rusticated base with raised projecting porticos and a connecting balustrade above the cornice. The Classical Revival styling is evident in the bold simplicity of all the elements, decorative and structural, that make up the facade. At its completion the courthouse was the most significant and important building in the county. It was dedicated by the commissioners on December 20, 1914, and cost approximately $250,000. Sub-contractors included A.M. Burnes, Palestine (heating, plumbing and vacuum cleaner system); Wm. A. Carro & Co., St. Louis (electrical wiring); Egan Fixture Co., Dallas (electric fixtures); Ben Sarvis, Palestine (painting), Wisconsin White Oak, Ingram Mill Co. (woodwork); Mosher Mfg. Co., Dallas (cast iron stairs and dome); Dixie Heating & Ventilating Co. (roofing and dome structure); J. Desco & Son, Dallas (marble); E. Oats, Dallas (stone columns); Hodges Furniture Co., Palestine (wooden furniture); Art Metal Construction Co. (steel furniture); Houston Car wheel & Machine Co. (bronze tables); Gilbert Mfg. Co., Dallas (steel window frames); Swann Furniture Co., Palestine (U.S. Battleship linoleum and shades). The Anderson County Courthouse is a strong reminder of Palestine's early 20th century prominence as a transportation and agribusiness center and as the center of government of a developing community. The courthouse building was successful in projecting a sophisticated image of county government. Its siting, large size, massing and skillfully articulated detailing make this building one of the most notable in its region. It is also one of few extant Classical Revival style buildings of this caliber in the state.
Bibliography
Austin: Its Architects and Architecture. 1836-1986, Austin: Austin Chapter, American Institute of Architects.
Calcote, Lynn, Lanelle Williamson, and Dora Schmidt, A History of Anderson County Courthouse, (unpublished).
County Courthouse History, (no author), Palestine: Dogwood Trails.
Lone Star State Book, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1893.
Neyland, James, "Anderson County and Its Courthouses," The Junior Historian Magazine, January 1957.
Once Around the Square; A History of the Anderson Countv Courthouse and The Old Town of Palestine, Texas, unpublished manuscript.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Application file, 1988. Texas Historical Commission, Austin, Texas.
Robinson, Willard B., The People's Architecture; Texas Courthouses, Jails, and Municipal Buildings, Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1983.
Souvenir Program of the Dedication of Anderson County Courthouse, December 20, 1914.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.