Glasscock County Courthouse and Jail

The Glasscock County Courthouse and Jail buildings occupy the public square in the county seat of Garden City, Texas. The four contributing resources on the square include the first Glasscock County Courthouse and Jail (1894), constructed of limestone in a minimal Italianate style; the second Glasscock County Courthouse (1910), constructed of limestone in the Classical Revival style; the Boy Scout House (1937), a small, one-story building of wood and stone in the Rustic style popularized by the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps; and a concrete water tower (1930). The 1910 courthouse was designed by architect Edward Columbus Hosford of Georgia, with the Dallas-based Leslie L. Thurmon as an associate architect; both architects designed very similar courthouses in county seats throughout Texas, Florida, and Georgia, in addition to schools and commercial buildings. Classical Revival in style, the Glasscock County Courthouse epitomizes the period aesthetic applied to a county's most important civic building, and as such it is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the areas of Politics/Government and Social History, and under Criterion C in the area of Architecture, both at the local level of significance.

Glasscock County

Located in West Texas, Glasscock County is bounded on the south by Reagan County, on the east by Sterling County, on the west by Midland County, and on the north by Howard and Martin counties. Sandy and loam soils make up the level prairie land, which is drained by the North Concho River, Lacy Creek, Mustang Draw, and Dewey Lake. The 222-day growing season produces crops of cotton, grain sorghums, and wheat, and nearly 56,000 acres are irrigated in the county; beef cattle and sheep are also raised. Glasscock County lands produce oil, but there are no other industries or manufacturing.

In the early nineteenth century, Lipan Apaches and Kickapoos hunted in this arid region, which was not yet attractive to European Americans for permanent settlement. The United States Army constructed Fort Chadbourne sixty miles east of the Glasscock County line in 1853, but abandoned it for lack of water; during the Civil War, the army made use of Fort Concho, fifty miles from the county line. The Butterfield Overland Mail route passed through the southern part of the county.

Glasscock County was formed in 1887 from a portion of Tom Green County and named for George Washington Glasscock (1810-1868), an officer in the Texas Revolution and a state legislator for whom Georgetown, the seat of Williamson County, also was named in 1848. Before the establishment of Tom Green County in 1874, Glasscock County was part of the Bexar District, which subsequently was divided into thirteen counties. After the Civil War, Glasscock County was part of the Pecos Military District, and cattlemen drove their herds through the area on the Pecos Trail. After its founding in 1887, the county was attached for administrative purposes to Martin County, and then to Howard County. Glasscock County was formally organized after an election held in 1893. The 150 citizens who signed the petition for the organization included a number of Mexican-American pastores (shepherds). The first Anglo settler in Glasscock County was sheep rancher L.S. McDowell, who moved into the area in 1883.

In 1890 only 208 people lived in the county, but the Pecan, Colorado, and Concho Immigration Association which Glasscock County was a member promoted movement into the area during that year. The Ohio Land Company, which drilled wells and built houses on five sections of land, also encouraged newcomers to settle in Glasscock County. By 1893 three small settlements - Garden City, Dixie, and New California been established within 12 miles of each other near Lacy Creek. The town of New California was selected as the county seat because its higher ground promised more easily obtainable well water. The original settlement called Garden City was abandoned, even though it had the county's post office and more homes than New California at the time; New California was subsequently renamed Garden City. Though plans for other towns did not materialize, between 1908 and 1910 the area had another settlement boom, again the result of vigorous promotional efforts by land-development companies. By 1910, there were 1,143 people living in the county. In 1905 two new school districts were established in the county, adding to the two original districts established in 1893. The Garden City Gazette, a weekly paper, was published between 1905 and 1913.

Ranching has been the most important economic activity in the county since its earliest days. In 1890 the United States census counted more than 45,000 sheep and almost 4,500 cattle in Glasscock County; county ranchers produced almost 390,000 pounds of wool that year. The census counted only 80 acres of land planted in corn in 1890 and did not count any crop production in the county at all during 1900. The increase in the county's population between 1900 and 1910, however, reflected a rise in the number of farms in the area during that period. In 1890 there were 28 farms in Glasscock County, and the number rose to 49 in 1900 and to 165 by 1910. In 1900 the county had only 1,100 improved acres, but by 1910 farmers had improved 15,000 acres, with 2,200 acres devoted to corn production and 1,800 acres planted in cotton.

The drought of 1917 severely reduced crop production and drove away many of the county's early residents. In 1920 the number of improved acres had declined to 11,125, with 1,600 planted in corn and 1,055 devoted to cotton; the population of the county had dropped to 555. Ranchers also suffered because of the drought: lacking grass, they drove their cattle to Big Spring for sale, and when the herds proved too skinny to sell they were driven back to Glasscock County; many died en route and were butchered for their hides. Nevertheless, almost 18,000 cattle and slightly fewer than 10,000 sheep were counted in Glasscock County in 1920; by 1930 the count was 17,000 cattle and 43,000 sheep. Corn production never recovered in the years following the drought, and during the 1920s cotton emerged as Glasscock County's most important crop.

The 1920s also saw the beginning of oil production in Glasscock County. S.E.J. Cox drilled the first well on the McDowell Ranch in the north-central part of the county in 1917. Cox's General Oil Company attracted investors with a free barbecue party surpassing any in county history 75 cattle and 50 sheep were prepared for the 10,000 guests, who ate and watched horse races. Cox later was believed to have faked the oil discovery, and he was convicted of related oil frauds in 1923. In 1925, however, other interests developed a productive oilfield on the McDowell Ranch. Significant oil production started in 1926, and Glasscock County briefly experienced a boom. The town of Drumright, south of the county's first producing oil well, saw its population jump to 500 but faded away as subsequent drilling opened only dry holes. Landowners were amazed during the early years of oil fever to receive offers of $1,000 an acre for land they had bought at a dollar per acre.

Despite this oil and land boom, the county's development did not include large, lasting increases in population. Though the population jumped to 1,263 in 1930, it dropped to 1,089 people in 1950. The population rose to 1,118 in 1960 but slowed after 1970. In 1980 the census counted 1,200 people in Glasscock County, and 1,447 people in 1990; only 1,406 residents were counted in 2000. Towns include the county seat of Garden City, Lees (also known as Lee Store), Bigby Corner, and Saint Lawrence. Glasscock County never had railroad service; the nearest Texas & Pacific Railroad station was in Big Spring, the seat of Howard County, about fifty miles directly to the north of Garden City. Roads in Glasscock County were not paved until 1936.