TRIPS INTO HISTORY

There’s old historic buildings and then there’s the historic courthouse buildings that are the center of many communities around the United States. Courthouses around America come in many architectural styles and many were designed and built either at the end of the 1800’s or at the very beginning of the 1900’s. Many of these old historic buildings tell a story of the community and counties they reside in and therefore offer a real trip into history. They are a real part of a regions heritage.

historic courthouse in clarendon texas — Donley County Courthouse, Clarendon Texas

Take a road trip around the U.S. and you’ll have a chance to explore many of these historic structures which often times house exhibits that explain the founding of the region.

The Courthouses of Texas

Texas has more old historic buildings, and most of these are courthouses, than just about any state in the country. Among the things I have always found fascinating touring old courthouses in Texas are the variety of architectural styles employed, often very different from one another. It seems that the founders all had different ideas as to how their courthouse should look. It seems that many of the styles had European origins of some type and even in this there are dozens of varieties. When you view these historic structures, they are not merely pictures of old buildings, but are representatives of a time when elaborate public buildings were meant to add prestige.

donley county texas historic courthouse — Donley County Courthouse entrance

In today’s world, building a new structure of the types shown here are most often cost prohibitive. Even maintaining these old historic buildings today present a financial challenge. Fortunately, most of these structures are Historic Landmarks, both of national and state registers, and because of this often have historical societies that raise funds for their restoration and upkeep.

Donley County Courthouse, Clarendon Texas

Chances are you won’t find many old historic buildings that outdo the Donley County Courthouse in the Texas Panhandle town of Clarendon. Donley County Texas is in a region that was Texas cattle country. The area is sparsely settled as most of the surrounding acreage was vast range lands. This was in the area of the famous JA Ranch, operated by Charles Goodnight, the Father of the Texas Panhandle. Other notable ranches in the area included the RO Ranch and Carhart’s Quarter Circle Heart Ranch.Donley County took it’s name in honor of Stockton P. Donley, a lawyer and Texas Supreme Court judge.

donley county texas courthouse — Romanesque revival architecture

The Donley County Courthouse was built in a Romanesque Revival style in 1880. It was constructed of stone and brick. It’s interesting to note that white settlers, mostly ranchers, didn’t inhabit this area until the 1870’s. The Panhandle region of Texas was the home of many Native American tribes including the Comanches and Apaches. In fact, it was in Palo Duro Canyon, not far from Clarendon and just southeast of present day Amarillo, where the famous Comanche leader Quanah Parker, surrendered to the U.S. Cavalry in September 1874. Donley became an official county in Texas two years later in 1876. At the time the Donley Courthouse was built and the area became a county, Clarendon was one of only three settlements in the Panhandle. The Donley County Courthouse was restored and it’s plumbing and electrical work was upgraded with oversight from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.

mclennan county texas courthouse — McLennan County Courthouse, Waco Texas

The McLennan County Courthouse, Waco Texas

Here is a courthouse with truly European origins. In fact, many say that the Beaux-Arts architectural style of the McLennan County Courthouse was inspired by St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome Italy.To emphasize the elaborate construction and design, on the top of the courthouse dome is a small lantern crowned by a statue of “Themis”, the Greek goddess of divine law and justice. The statue on top holds the scales of justice in her left hand and the hilt of a sword in her right. There was once a blade in the sword but unfortunately it was lost during a large Texas storm.

There are many who believe the McLennan County Courthouse has a strong resemblance to the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin, just about 100 miles south. Both old historic buildings have wings on each side of the main area and both have an elaborate statue display on their domes. The two significant features of the McLennan County Courthouse is it’s beautiful dome and it’s commanding front entrance.

waco texas historic building — Beaux-Arts architectural style

What is today McLennan County was at one time a Mexican land grant given out in 1925. The frontier line in Texas gradually moved westward. At one time it ran roughly in a line from Dallas southwestward to San Antonio. Indian troubles from the Comanches and their ongoing threat caused permanent settlement in today’s McLennan County to be delayed until the 1840’s. McLennan County was founded by the Texas legislature in January 1850. The county was named for Neil McLennan, one of the areas earliest settlers.

You will also enjoy the photo articles on our Western Trips site of more historic old Texas County Courthouses and the Story of the Texas State Capitol and the XIT Ranch.

The Texas Historical Commission

As mentioned above, Texas has more historic courthouses that any other state. There are more than 234 courthouses in Texas still standing that are least 50 years old. Some eighty were constructed before the turn of the twentieth century. Eventually, most of these old historic buildings were significantly deteriorated due to inadequate maintenance, insensitive modifications or weather related damage.

mclennan county texas historic courthouse — Grand entrance to the Mclennan County Courthouse

The Texas Historical Commission documented the condition of 50 of the state’s oldest courthouses in the late 1990s and determined that counties lacked the funds to preserve and maintain the buildings for future generations.

When the Texas county courthouses were added to the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Properties list in 1998, some action had to be taken. Due to all of this the state created the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. This was the largest such creation of any one state. This nationally recognized preservation program reversed the trend of disrepair and started the process of restoring the state’s most treasured historic landmarks. Fortunately this action went a long way in preserving these historic buildings for all of us and future generations to enjoy.

(Photos from author’s private collection)

Tlllamook Rock Lighthouse could be the west coast’s most unique deactivated lighthouse. Located one mile off Tillamook Head, the lighthouse stands one-hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean. The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse was built in 1881 on a small island just off the Oregon coast. The northern Oregon coastal location is between the towns of Seaside and Cannon Beach.

The Tillamook Lighthouse was originally planned to be built at Tillamook Head. It was soon determined that the site on the coast, twenty miles south of the Columbia River mouth, was too foggy. Work then started to find a more suitable site. Surveyors took a boat out to the small island and decided to build the lighthouse on it. Just getting off the boat at the island, with the whirling Pacific Ocean waves, made that part a challenge. Building a lighthouse on the island was another challenge altogether.

Who Would Build This Lighthouse?

The locals were well aware of the rock island and the dangers it posed. As a result, no local skilled workers could be found who would agree to build the Tillamook Lighthouse. Eventually, workers were found elsewhere who were not familiar with the general area and the rock island in particular. After being housed further north at the mouth of the Columbia River, four workers were first transported to the island in October of 1879. A few days later the remainder of the construction crew were dropped off.

tillamook rock lighthouse — Tillamook Lighthose, 1947

The island offered no natural shelter whatsoever. There were no caves or crevices. A temporary shelter was built to house the workers. Other than that, the work crew was exposed to the elements twenty-four hours a day. This harsh environment most likely was the reason there were no local takers for the construction job. Tools, food and supplies were transported to the island by boat and, because of the wave action, had to be put ashore with a line. There was no way for a vessel to actually moor itself on the rock.

The Storm Hits

Three months after work began on the island, a tremendous storm hit. In January 1880, a nor’easter hit driving waves over the rock island. Parts of rock were torn off the island from the storm and the workers were exposed to all of it. Even the shack where the tools and food were stored was torn away by the storm. Other temporary structures such as the blacksmith shop were damaged.

tillamook head — Tlllamook Rock Lighthouse from Tillamook Head, 2012

The storm’s intensity was such that the service vessel, the “Corwin“, wasn’t able to reach the island until sixteen days after the storm began. When the Corwin did reach the rock, a line was affixed to the rock and supplies were put ashore. Amazingly enough, all of the workers survived the fierce storm.

Decades later in 1934, the fierce storms on that part of the Oregon coast destroyed the lighthouse lens and damaged some of the structure.

The Island

When you view Tillamook Rock Lighthouse you first notice how the island is relatively level at one end and rises on the other where the light is located. The work crew in 1879 leveled the top of the hump portion and it was there that the lighthouse was built. In fact, it took about seven months of work just to level the top of the hump. The lens house rises sixteen feet from the center of a two story structure. Finally, almost one and a half-years after the workers were put on the island, the light was lit. This was in January of 1881.

You’ll find the following photo articles on our Western Trips site interesting. The Point Reyes Lighthouse near San Francisco and Haystack Rock, a unique geologic formation on the north Oregon coast. Also on this site, see our King of the Columbia Steamboatmen.

Decommissioned in 1957

The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse had a long life protecting shipping. The lighthouse operated for seventy-six years. It was shut down in 1957 and replaced with a small whistle buoy. Lighthouse keepers worked decades on the rock in isolated confinement. There were only so many people who could put up with the isolation. This plus the storms there gave the lighthouse the nickname of “Terrible Tilly”. The lighthouse, because of it’s location on this small island made it the most expensive lighthouse to operate. Most lighthouses closed because of a combination of high operating costs and advanced technology.

Tillamook Rock Lighthouse Today

The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is now owned privately and has the distinction of being the only lighthouse on the Oregon coast privately owned yet listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is also part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The lighthouse was sold several times. At one point it was turned into a Columbarium but the license was revoked in 1999.

While there is no access to the old Tillamook Rock Lighthouse , it is a spectacle to see one mile off Tillamook Head on the Pacific coast. The towns around Tillamook Head, Seaside and Cannon Beach, are very popular tourist destinations with plenty of beach rentals and B & B’s.

Astoria Oregon is about twenty miles to the north and offers plenty of historic sites such as Fort Stevens, Fort Clatsop and the world famous Columbia River Maritime Museum.

(1940’s Tillamook black and white photos from the public domain. Color photos from author’s collection)

Old Historic Buildings

Tillamook Head / Oregon Lighthouse