Crockett County Courthouse

Because of the late settlement of Crockett county, the 1902 Second Empire courthouse is one of the earliest monuments to the county's establishment. Named in honor of the Alamo hero, Colonel David Crockett, the county is located on the Edwards Plateau of southwest Texas and is bounded on the west by the Pecos River. The county was originally created from a large outlying district of Bexar County in 1875 from which five counties were later created. The size was decreased in 1885 when Crockett became a subsidiary of Val Verde County and in 1891 the present Crockett County was officially organized.

Although the earliest inhabitants included the Commanche, Apache, Kiowa, Mescalero, and Lipan Indian tribes, the first settlements were the mid-nineteenth-century supply depots and outposts for wagon trains. When gold was discovered in California, the western portion of the old chihuahua trail, surveyed and established in 1848, became a major route to the west. In 1850 the government established stage stands to furnish fresh teams for the new mail runs through this area and in 1855 Fort Lancaster was erected to insure protection for the travelers. (See National Register Submission, Fort Lancaster, March 11, 1971.) Following the Civil War Anglo-Americans began moving into this frontier region and took up unoccupied lands, but Indian depredations discouraged settlement until the United States government sent troops to the frontier posts. The Texas Legislature provided three battalions of rangers for the protection of the area in September 1866.

The 2,794 square miles of Crockett county is an area of rough stony land and shallow soil. Combined with the semiarid climate, the land proved unsuitable for agriculture, but by the 1880s settlers began buying land for cattle and sheep grazing. William Perry Hoover founded the first cattle ranch in 1881 and today 99% of the land is used for grazing.

The first town, Emerald, was founded in 1889 by representatives of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad, who owned some land about seven miles east of present-day Ozona. With visions of laying railroad tracts through the area, an immigration agent from Fort Worth was hired to encourage settlement, and a church, schoolhouse, and saloon were provided. Mr. E.M. Powell, a surveyor in West Texas also owned land in the county. Upon learning of the county organization he drilled a well on his property and named the site Ozona. Anxious for the county seat to be founded there, he offered to donate land for a public school, public plaza, courthouse, jail, waterworks, and recreation park.

Crockett County was organized on July 1, 1891, and a week later they voted to create the county seat at E.M. Powell's site. The people of Emerald literally moved their settlement to the site of Ozona and became the county seat's first citizens. A pioneer lawyer in Crockett County, Charles E. Davidson, was elected the first county judge and was instrumental in the town's development. Having grown up on an Iowa farm, he received his education from the University of Iowa and then received a law degree in California. He practiced law in California, Austin, Texas, and in 1883 moved his practice to San Angelo, 85 miles from present-day Ozona. When the citizens of Crockett County began organizing the county, Davidson, who owned cattle and some property there, was petitioned to run for county judge. First elected in 1891, he held the same office for 52 years and was largely responsible for the erection of the present courthouse in 1902.

The first courthouse was a wood frame structure built in 1891 by the town carpenter Sam T. Smith. The building served the county until 1902 when the present stone courthouse and jail were built. Oscar Ruffini, a San Angelo architect was chosen to design the stone courthouse. Ruffini had earlier acted as the supervising architect for the first San Angelo courthouse in 1884 and designed the original stone courthouses of concho, Mills, Sutton, and Sterling counties. He had also designed numerous schools, banks, hotels, and commercial buildings in West Texas. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Ruffini followed his older brother, F. E. Ruffini, to Austin and joined him in architecture practice. In 1883 Oscar moved to San Angelo for health reasons and lived there until his death in 1957.

The county official had submitted a bond issue to the citizens for $30,000, which had been accepted in December 1900. Mr. Ruffini's plans were then accepted in February 1901. TWO native quarries, one on the Meyers estate and the other on the Couch estate, provided Ozona with the building stone. One of Judge Davidson's requirements for the new courthouse was that it be available for social events. For a town of 1500 people in 1902, the courthouse housed not only the courtroom and county offices but contained the largest space for a dance hall. During the first decades of the Twentieth century, the two-story stone structure served as a community center for social events and weekly dances.

The Oscar Ruffini courthouse is the finest example of Victorian public architecture in the area. Although the county has outgrown the facilities of the old structure, the citizens of Ozona plan to restore the building for a museum and public library.