The Courthouse Square in Texas
The Courthouse Square in Texas

Author: Robert E. Veselka

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-05

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 0292786786

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With its dignified courthouse set among shade trees and lawns dotted with monuments to prominent citizens and fallen veterans, the courthouse square remains the civic center in a majority of the county seats of Texas. Yet the squares themselves vary in form and layout, reflecting the different town-planning traditions that settlers brought from Europe, Mexico, and the United States. In fact, one way to trace settlement patterns and ethnic dispersion in Texas is by mapping the different types of courthouse squares. This book offers the first complete inventory of Texas courthouse squares, drawn from extensive archival research and site visits to 139 of the 254 county seats. Robert Veselka classifies every existing plan by type and origin, including patterns and variants not previously identified. He also explores the social and symbolic functions of these plans as he discusses the historical and modern uses of the squares. He draws interesting new conclusions about why the courthouse square remains the hub of commercial and civic activity in the smaller county seats, when it has lost its prominence in others.

The Courthouses of Texas
The Courthouses of Texas

Author: Mavis P. Kelsey

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2007-03-20

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1585445495

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A county courthouse stands not only as the center of government, but also as the center of civic pride. Some with stately towers and arched doors or windows, some with high brick chimneys and mansard roofs, some in modern concrete and glass, the 254 courthouses of Texas provide an invitation to public life, a testament to the ideal of justice, and an introduction to period architecture. It is no wonder, then, that many tourists each year visit these edifices. This new edition of a classic, indispensable, full-color guide—a true collector’s item for Texas history fans—will help travelers choose which courthouses they want to add to their trips and view them knowledgeably. For each county a color photograph pictures the courthouse and an account sketches the sequence of the seats of government, the location and style of the current building, and tidbits of fascinating lore about county and county seat names and history. Courthouses and the “squares” around many of them offer a bonanza for history buffs, antique collectors, genealogists, architecture enthusiasts, and photographers. Many of them house or are near local history museums, and many display historical markers that introduce the area to visitors. Especially in many smaller county seats, the courthouse square offers a genre scene of a special moment in Texas’ life. Included in this updated edition are the latest views of some of Texas’ most historic and architecturally significant courthouses, including those restored under the Texas Historical Commission’s Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. For all those who plan their travels to see courthouses, and all those who in their travels for other reasons enjoy detours into the heritage and pride of a people, this beautiful and informative book opens the way.

Weatherford
Weatherford

Author: Trina M. Haynes

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1467130117

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Weatherford was settled in the 1850s, when the pioneers and Indians came for its rich soil and water sources. The mark of fame for Weatherford is the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which was driven by two cattle drivers, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Charles Goodnight, who was killed in an Indian attack, is buried in Weatherford, and a historical marker is placed at his grave in the historic Greenwood Cemetery. Cotton and watermelon were the popular industries, and watermelon festivals still bring crowds to the Courthouse Square. Over 150 images highlight Weatherford's historic town square buildings, the courthouse, homes, and cemeteries. Take a journey back into the 1800s with this photographic walking tour from the Courthouse Square to far and away. These images will bring back to life how Weatherford was built, how it survived, and the pioneers who kept its rich history alive.

Buildings of Texas
Buildings of Texas

Author: Gerald Moorhead

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780813932552

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"This book, the first of two volumes devoted to the Lone Star State, covers the central, southern, and Gulf Coast region (the earliest areas of Spanish and Anglo settlement and the majority of the counties that won independence from Mexico in 1836) and includes four major cities--Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio."--Publisher's description.

100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die
100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die

Author: E. R. Bills

Publisher: Reedy Press LLC

Published: 2018-10-10

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 168106183X

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Many Texas travel guides are all hat and no cattle, put together by temporary or transplanted Texans who aren’t well familiar with the state in its entirety, much less the experiences and marvels that express bona fide Lone Star spirit. Award-winning author E. R. Bills’s 100 Things to Do in Texas Before You Die is a definitive, quick-reference travel guide put together by a native-born, lifelong Texan who has traveled the state all his life and spent the last several years writing about its distinct treasures, attractions and history. From the Big Bend to the Big Thicket, the Panhandle to the Padre Island National Seashore and all points in between, join Bills in this Lone Star bucket list that emphasizes authentic Texas in in all of its amazing diversity, stark beauty and unparalleled presence in the lower forty-eight.

Fort Worth
Fort Worth

Author: Julia Kathryn Garrett

Publisher: TCU Press

Published: 1999-05

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9780875652023

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Indians, the era of slavery and the Civil War, the chaotic period of reconstruction with its struggles between carpet-baggers and the Klu Klux Klan.

Main Street Revisited
Main Street Revisited

Author: Richard V. Francaviglia

Publisher: University of Iowa Press

Published: 1996-06-01

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1587290715

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As an archetype for an entire class of places, Main Street has become one of America's most popular and idealized images. In Main Street Revisited, the first book to place the design of small downtowns in spatial and chronological context, Richard Francaviglia finds the sources of romanticized images of this archetype, including Walt Disney's Main Street USA, in towns as diverse as Marceline, Missouri, and Fort Collins, Colorado. Francaviglia interprets Main Street both as a real place and as an expression of collective assumptions, designs, and myths; his Main Streets are treasure troves of historic patterns. Using many historical and contemporary photographs and maps for his extensive fieldwork and research, he reveals a rich regional pattern of small-town development that serves as the basis for American community design. He underscores the significance of time in the development of Main Street's distinctive personality, focuses on the importance of space in the creation of place, and concentrates on popular images that have enshrined Main Street in the collective American consciousness.

Lone Star Travel Guide to Central Texas
Lone Star Travel Guide to Central Texas

Author: Richard Zelade

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications

Published: 2011-05-16

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 158979608X

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Formerly a part of the popular Lone Star Guide to the Texas Hill Country, Central Texas now gets its own treatment in this up-to-date guide that includes history, folklore, and geography; detailed listings of lodgings, restaurants, and entertainment; major attractions, including state parks, museums, and historic places; directions, days and hours of operation, addresses, and phone numbers; and maps and calendar of events. Five tours take you from the Balcones Escarpment to "Central Texas Stew," a region of the state largely settled by Czechs and Germans in the early twentieth century.