In Texas, many county seat (place of local government) courthouses are constructed in the center of town. Typically, this was the gathering place for the community to be used for musical concerts, rallies, and for shopping. The nearest town to the farm consists of this type of set up.
This is the county's 4th courthouse to be built on The Square. The construction was completed in 1891 for a cost of $99,407. The 3-story masonry and stone structure, is built in the Romanesque Revival style with a 100 foot tall clock tower.
The outside materials are native to Texas....blue sandstone from Muldoon, red Pecos sandstone, Burnet granite, and Belton white limestone.
The details are accented by the different colors of the stone.
A closer look at the tower clock.....
This give you some idea of the architecture of the store fronts.
The shops are lined up on all 4 sides of the square. You will find gift shops, a custom jewelry store, a meat market, kolache bakery, a couple of banks, several speciality restaurants, and a wonderful coffee shop serving lattes and homemade fudge.
With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life during the week, at Noon on Saturday, most stores close down for the remainder of the week end.
Remember, this a a small Texas town with a population of 5,000.
I hope you have enjoyed the mini-tour of the small town near the farmhouse.
Meggie Mac
Thank you. Fascinating, what a lovely place. Suzy x
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking a look at the courthouse. It really does have some beautiful stone work on it.
DeleteAn interesting mix of stones and detailing - I wonder what the cost would be today! The town looks very clean and well kept, it can certainly knock spots off some of the towns in England. I really like the detail on the shop fronts - lovely colour combination. Thanks Meggie.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sight-seeing:) Looks like a nice town! Do you need to visit town often? Have a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteYes, I usually go on Saturday mornings and run all my errands. The town is about 7 miles from the farm.
DeleteI've seen a lot of similar courthouses like this in Texas, Kansas and Iowa, but I don't think I've ever seen that interlay of different colored stones. Impressive.
ReplyDeleteI didn't fully realize how impressive it was until I started editing the photos. I remember the 50th anniversary of WWII. The high school band played patriotic music. Several people stood on the balcony of the courthouse and read the names of the fallen soldiers from the county. After each name was read, someone struck a gong. It was very sobering and the list of names seemed to go on and on. The Square was very crowded. It was, as though, the entire town turned out for the rememberance.
DeleteThanks for the BD link. I've had a look and it's difficult to tell, there are some pieces sort of similar but I couldn't see the initials stamped on the base. Perhaps they are earlier works of hers if they are hers. She has some lovely items though. Suzy x
ReplyDeleteWow Meggie, you live in a beautiful place. I would love to look around your shops, they look so cute. Thanks for sharing your little part of the world xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emma, for taking the tour of the Courthouse Square. It is a wonderful place to live. I'm in the country, but big cities are less than 2 hours away. There is nothing like watching a small town parade as it goes around the Square.....so personal.
DeleteSuch a fun tour...I love small towns like this..so much charm and history. I would love to spend a day there!
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of good to be said about small towns. Wherever I shop on a regular basis, they call me by my first name. I think no matter where you live, there is charm and history if you take time to look for it.
DeleteThanks so much for all your comments on my blog. It is appreciated so much!
what a beautiful little town. (like you, i block out the name of my town, too.)
ReplyDelete