Hill County Courthouse

Standing tall today, but the Hill County courthouse has had a tough history.

One of the great things about traveling around Texas is checking out the old courthouses.  The architecture in these buildings can be amazing and they are usually tucked away in the town center. Some of the town center are still quite vibrant with lots of shopping and dinning, and others it seems like time is passing them up, yet the courthouse remains anchored strongly in place.

The first courthouse I want to highlight is the Hill County courthouse located in Hillsboro, Texas.  Hill County is located about 1 hour south of the DFW metroplex where highway 35W and 35E come back together.  The county was established on February 7, 1853 by splitting Navarro County.   Hill county was names for Dr. George Washington Hill who had served as President Sam Houston’s secretary of war and was serving as a state legislature from Navarro County when the split was made.

There were four different locations suggested for the county seat, none of which were near the center of the county.  On August 23, 1853 Thomas Steiner, John Caruthers and Jonathan Newby donated 260 acres to serve as the county seat and the town of Hillsborough started selling lots by November 1, 1853.

The first courthouse was 12 feet square and was built with Elm poles and had a dirt floor.  A second courthouse was built in 1854 for a total cost of of $200.  In 1870 a two story brick courthouse was built, which caught fire and burned in September of 1872.

The current courthouse was built and completed in 1890 for a cost of $83,000.  The courthouse suffered another fire in 1993 because of faulty wiring.  The courthouse received statewide attention because television images of the collapsing clock tower and charred remains horrified Texans across the state.  Willie Nelson conducted a benefit concert on the lawn of the courthouse to raise funds for its redevelopment.

Today the courthouse is standing proudly and looks fantastic.  The three story limestone building is topped with a seven story clock tower.  Surrounded by the town square I would highly recommend getting off the highway, coming into town and enjoying the amazing architecture that makes up the Hill County courthouse.