Gonzales County Courthouse

Built in 1896 in Romanesque Revival architectual style by architect J. Riely Gordon by contractor Otto P. Kroeger.

The Gonzales County Courthouse, designed by J. Riely Gordon in the Romanesque Revival style, was constructed in 1896. The building is cruciform in plan with four semicircular entrance bays filling in the four corners of the cross. The two main entrance bays have open Roman arcades at the first level and open galleries with colonnades at the second topped by wide limestone bands and open brick parapets. Limestone stringcourses divide the stories. One circular bay at the rear has its second story treated as a piano nobile with very tall, round arched windows, each with three lights. The windows in the rest of the building are of the one-over-one double-hung sash type, grouped with piers or columns marking the divisions and given various treatments including flat lintels, Roman arches, and Gothic arches. The walls of the structure are of red brick with cast concrete trim molded and painted to appear as stone. The raised basement walls are made of rusticated limestone. Covering the building is a red tile, hip roof surmounted by a central tower. The tower is square in plan and is flanked by four open cupolas with colonnades and stilted domes. Each side of the tower has three narrow Gothic windows, and the four clocks of the tower have transparent faces superimposed over the brick archivolts of the windows and limestone cornice. The corners of the cornice boast four gargoyle water spouts. An open colonnade belvedere with a pyramidal red tile roof crowns the tower.

-Remodeled in 1958.Original slate and tin roofs were replaced with Spanish tile.1996-John Volz preparing plans for full exterior restoration.- ISTEA Grant - Repairing and replacing the roof; rebuilding gutters and downspouts; repairing and replacing the d

Current status: Active Courthouse