Goliad County, TX

This month’s selection, the Goliad County Courthouse in Texas.

In 1894 Goliad County built a Second Empire Style courthouse on the town square of Goliad. Its towers were destroyed in a 1942 hurricane but restored in 2004 as were small crow’s nest balconies on the second floor.

Texas has 254 county courthouses, by far the state with the largest number of courthouses. The Texas Historical Commission has been instrumental in preserving and funding restoration of classic courthouses.

The Goliad Courthouse architect Henri Guidon was the architect of the near identical Caldwell County courthouse built in 1894. Goliad’s town square has over two dozen historic structures that housed banks or still house pharmacies, apartments, and grocery and dry goods stores.

The two story courtrooms in Texas such as the one in Goliad are often called “Double-Heights.” Bexar County, whose county seat is San Antonio, Texas has a grand “double-height” courtroom built in 1896.

The Second Empire style, also known as the mansard (roof) style, features a steep, four-sided mansard roof with a gentler slope above it that often has dormer windows. The name comes from Napoleon III’s Second Empire (1852-70), where the style was popular in France and would later influence public buildings in the United States and the rest of Europe. Key Second Empire features frequently include ornate cornices with brackets, tall narrow windows and a symmetrical box-like form.