Coryell County Courthouse marks 125 years with Gatesville celebration
Dozens gathered on the south side lawn as the 1898 Coryell County Courthouse marked 125 years with a horseback color guard and local voices.
Dozens of residents gathered on the south side lawn of the Coryell County Courthouse in Gatesville for a 125th-anniversary celebration built around a detail that fit the building’s age: a ceremonial posting of the colors on horseback. The program began at 10 a.m. and drew together the courthouse’s past and its present role as a working center of county government.
The ceremony included the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance led by Casey Curry, the National Anthem sung by Charles Ament, the Texas Pledge of Allegiance led by Casey Curry, the Texas anthem sung by Dr. Steve Norris and an opening prayer by Felicia Inman. The courthouse itself was finished on July 18, 1898, and the Texas Historical Commission’s Atlas lists the historic marker as number 1071, Atlas number 5099001071.
That history still matters because the building is not a museum piece. The county clerk’s office is on the first floor at 620 East Main Street in the courthouse, where Jennifer Newton serves as Coryell County Clerk and office hours run Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Becky Moore serves as the 52nd and 440th Judicial District Clerk, and the county’s own website still posts jury notices for the district court and county court at law, proof that the building remains part of daily county business rather than a preserved shell.
Heritage materials describe the courthouse as one of the oldest Texas county courthouses still in use. They also tie it to architect W.C. Dodson, who designed the building, and to the Second Empire Victorian style, with rooftop statues of Liberty and Justice and an eagle atop the clock tower. Those details help explain why the courthouse has become both a symbol of Gatesville and a preservation project that demands more than routine repairs.
Coryell County has already worked with Architexas on a historic structures report and master plan for the 1898 courthouse, the kind of planning that comes with keeping a 125-year-old public building open to the public. For county taxpayers, that means the courthouse has to do two jobs at once: keep serving judges, clerks and voters, while also meeting the maintenance needs of a historic landmark anchored in downtown Gatesville.
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