Grant Program Restores Texas Courthouses

By Rebecca L. Bennett

The Marion County Courthouse in Jefferson, Texas. Photo by Michael Barera via Wikimedia Commons

The county seats of Marion and Lynn counties — Jefferson and Tahoka, Texas, respectively — may be located nearly 500 miles apart geographically, but they’re united by their shared interest in restoring their historic courthouses to their former glories.

Both counties were recently awarded grants for their courthouse restoration projects from the Texas Historical Commission’s Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP).

A completely different building

Marion County applied for a THCPP grant to restore their 1913-built courthouse back in 1999, and in early 2019, they were awarded $4.7 million toward the project. For those 20 years in between, county officials slowly saved the remaining $1 million to fully fund the restoration.

“They’ve got all the specs of what this courthouse looked like; the flooring, the granite walls, all the arbitrary fixtures, and they’re going to put it back just the way it was built,” Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur told KLTV. “It will look like a completely different building.”

Among the improvements, workers have been pouring concrete, replacing damaged brick and mortar, installing air conditioning and working with a professional lab to peel back old layers of paint to determine the original colors for repainting the walls.

“We’ve been basically trying for this for 20 years, and to be a part of it is just phenomenal,” Judge LaFleur stated in an interview. Even more exciting, LaFleur says, is that the project is “ahead of schedule and under budget thus far.” Barring complications, the courthouse should be ready this fall.

Community support

Lynn County officials first applied for their THCPP grant in 1997 to restore their beautiful, 1916-built courthouse, one of the most distinguished buildings in the surrounding area due to its neoclassical architecture and its storied history.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, and KCBD, the county received their full ask of $5 million in early 2017 and covered the other $3.1 million themselves. They finished the restoration and reopened the courthouse in mid-2019.

The project called for a complete overhaul of the building including the grand steps and entryways, the offices, many of which feature walk-in vaults, third-floor jury dormitory and deliberation room, steel spiral staircases, ceramic tile floors, marble wainscoting, as well as the courtroom itself and balcony.

“What THC is most interested in is the exterior of the building,” Lynn County Judge Mike Braddock told KCBD when restoration work first began in 2017. 

Workers also installed modern amenities and cost-saving features, such as LED lighting, air conditioning and a new elevator.

“We have had a lot of support from the people here in town or in the whole county,”Judge Braddock stated. 

Texas