Garza County Courthouse

The 1923 Garza County Courthouse serves as the center of political and governmental life in Garza County, a role that it has fulfilled for over 75 years. Although established in 1907 as a hub of C.W. Post's experimental agricultural colony, Garza's county government experienced its most significant expansion in the booming, cotton-driven economy of the 1920s. Designed by Amarillo architect Guy A. Carlander, the Prairie School-influenced courthouse remains a symbol of the county's prosperity in that era. The courthouse meets Criterion A at the local level in the area of Politics/Government for the role it has played as the seat of county government.

Garza County was formed in 1876 from a section of Bexar County, which at that time included most of the western half of the state of Texas. Although Anglo settlement came slowly to the new county, by the late 1870s, a half-dozen sprawling ranches covered the area, creating a small population of 36 persons in 1880. Many early ranchers left due to the tough blizzard and drought cycle of 1886-1888 that reduced the population to 14 people in 1890. During the 1890s, the economy of the county began to recover. A series of wet years benefited local ranchers and resulted in attracting new stock farmers to the area. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Garza County's population reached 180 persons.

The twentieth century came to Garza County when famed cereal producer, Charles William Post (1854- 1914), arrived in the area to start an experimental colony. Well known in Battle Creek, Michigan, for his social planning and exemplary treatment of employees, Post, who spent time in Tarrant County in the 1880s, migrated to Garza County in 1906 to establish an idyllic community of prosperous, landowning farmers. Attracted to the inexpensive acreage of the Texas ranching frontier, Post purchased 213,324 acres of ranchland in Garza County and several hundred additional acres in adjoining Lynn County. This land, composed of large ranches, was then subdivided and sold in 160-acre tracts, complete with a house, barn, chicken coop, windmill, and other appurtenances already in place."

A critical component of Post's experiment was the need to create a social and economic hub for his colonizing venture. In 1907, Garza County did not possess any towns of size or significance and did not support an organized county government. Post soon remedied the situation, organizing an election in July 1907 to create a county government and choose a county seat. As a result of the elections, the county was formally organized and the newly created town of Post City became its county seat."

Post City essentially served as a company town, with the land and structures owned by Post's Double U Land Company. The company surveyed and platted the townsite and began building a commercial section with a hotel, company store, and commercial block. The Double U Company constructed a gin and textile plant and built houses that were either sold or rented to settlers. Since the city did not yet have a rail connection, many early structures were made from sandstone hauled from a company-owned quarry approximately 15 miles from town."

The Garza County Commissioners Court held its first meeting on the prairie on July 15, 1907. Among items of business, the Commissioners ordered furniture for a future courthouse. By November, the Commissioners had selected a site for a temporary courthouse. The Commissioners Court voted on November 11 to designate the northwest corner of the Double U Building as the temporary location for the courthouse at a fixed rent of $5.00 per month. At the same time, the county agreed to purchase Lot 24, Block 75 for $800 as a site for the future courthouse. The commission then voted to prepare plans for the temporary courthouse. The choice of purchasing a new lot for the courthouse site was unusual in that the plat for the City of Post already included a courthouse square reserve two blocks west of the temporary courthouse. Although the minutes shed no light on this issue, there are several possible explanations. It is most likely that the county wanted to proceed as quickly as possible, and the official plat, with all its public reservations, was several months away from being completed and accepted.

As the result of a January 6, 1908 meeting, the County Commissioner approved for plans for a courthouse. Prepared by M.S. Hall, the court awarded a contract of $5,044 to F. L. Maupin to erect a stone, two-story, rectangular plan courthouse. The building was completed in June or July of 1908. In May 1908, the Commissioners Court ordered that a lumber "calaboose" or jail, measuring 8'x14' with 8' walls, be erected on the site of the courthouse. Three months later, the Commissioners Court ordered that the courthouse furniture be moved into the new building.

County Commissioners reinforced their conviction of the temporary nature of the courthouse when in May of 1908, Post petitioned the county to approve the plat of Post City and the public dedication of the courthouse square. Apparently, this petition sparked a lengthy debate, as it did not approve of the dedication until June 25, 1909. Meanwhile, the Commissioners Court ordered on February 8, 1909, that the current courthouse square be planted in trees, in anticipation of the construction of a permanent facility."

Post's utopian goals for the city clashed with the reality of frontier life. Despite a prohibition of alcohol and brothels, all of the citizens of Post City were not of sterling character, and the need for a jail soon arose. In May of 1911, the Commissioner Court voted to purchase a small block of jail cells from the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio. At the same time, the calaboose moved to the northwest corner of the lot. County Commissioners' minutes also reveal a plan for a 16'x20' house near the cellblock. A local workman, T.M. Curlee, completed what must have been a simple frame enclosure described in the minutes.

Post's efforts to create a model farming community were not entirely successful, as he was forced to rent many of the farm sites that he had created to sell to farmers. In an effort to create a wider economic base for Post City, Post erected a large cotton mill in 1911. By anticipating the rise of a cotton-based economy, Post not only gave local farmers a place to sell crops but also stimulated cotton production in the region. Postex Cotton Mills, became the town's leading industry, employing 250 workers when it began production in 1913. In creating a product line of sheets and other cotton products, Post anticipated the need for economic diversification that would plague the region in years to come. Unfortunately, his untimely death in 1914 ended his visionary participation in the development of the South Plains economy, although his descendants still continue to operate the Double U Company.

Despite C.W. Post's demise, by the early 1920s, the county's economy had matured with a rapid expansion of population and agricultural activity. Cotton surged to the forefront as the leading crop on the Texas South Plain. In Garza County, Post's Double U Company sold or rented its farmland in the western half of the county to cotton farmers. With a profitable cash crop, high demand, and a booming regional economy, the decade of the 1920s saw a rapid expansion of the county's economy and population. The county's growth led to a parallel increase in the need for county governmental services. Increased tax revenues permitted the County Commission to erect a suitable courthouse and eliminate the use of the temporary building. In June of 1922, an $82,000 bond issue for a new courthouse and jail was approved, with the bond issue carried on August 15, with 579 Yes to 355 No votes. The approved issue specified that the new courthouse is erected on the square reserved in Post City's original town plat.

A "prospectus committee" was formed to develop specifications for the design of the new courthouse. The committee visited Lamesa, Tahoka, Lubbock, Floydada, and Crosbyton to view existing facilities and gather information and ideas for the new building. On September 11, the committee met to review plans and specifications for a proposed courthouse. It is not indicated in the county records who prepared the plans. It may be that the plans reviewed were conceptual drawings by firms who would be interviewed later in the month." On September 21, six architectural firms made presentations to the County Commissioners and the building committee. The six firms present included James C. Teague, Smith & Townes, David C. Castle, Henry P. Phelps, Sanguinett and Staats, George F. Campbell and Guy A. Carlander. By the end of the day, three firms made the "short list": Castle, Phelps, and Carlander. Carlander, who practiced in Amarillo, emerged as a successful architect.