The Presidio County Courthouse is located in
Marfa,
Presidio County
Presidio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is Marfa. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1875. Presidio County (K-5 in Texas topological ind ...
in the
U.S. state of
Texas. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was designated a
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.
Description
San Antonio architect
Alfred Giles Alfred Giles may refer to:
* Alfred Giles (architect) (1853–1920), Texas architect
* Alfred Giles (civil engineer) (1816–1895), British civil engineer and politician
* Alfred Giles (explorer) (1846–1931), South Australian bushman, drover and ...
beat out eighteen other competitors to submit the winning bid on designing the 1886 courthouse at a cost of $60,000. Giles modeled the
Second Empire style building after the
El Paso courthouse he also designed in 1886.
When the structure was completed, the county held a celebratory grand ball on January 1, 1887.
The courthouse can be seen from almost any location in Marfa. Designed of brick and stone quarried in Marfa, the exterior is of pink stucco with ''Lady Justice'' sitting atop the central dome. The tower is spanned by Roman arches. Interiors are designed of pecan wood.
Dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
s extend over the roof, with triangular pediments and iron cresting. The building has entrances on all sides, meeting in a central rotunda. When designed, the district courtroom took up the entire east side of the second floor. The grand jury room was on the third floor. A remodeling took place in 2001.
History
]
The courthouse was preceded by a facility, no longer extant, in
Fort Davis, Texas, Fort Davis from 1880 to 1885 when the county seat was relocated from Fort Davis to Marfa.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Presidio County, Texas
*
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Presidio County
*
List of county courthouses in Texas
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presidio County Jail
Government buildings completed in 1886
Buildings and structures in Presidio County, Texas
County courthouses in Texas
Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
Texas State Antiquities Landmarks
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
National Register of Historic Places in Presidio County, Texas