Courthouse Christmas: Blanco County, Johnson City, Texas

Photo by Jack, jmtimages, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license

My own photo of this courthouse came out rather blurry. This one is almost identical, except that when I took mine this year, there were less lights on the top of the courthouse (in particular, not on most of the chimneys).

Historical Marker text for Blanco County Courthouse, Johnson City, Texas:

"Designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps, the 1916 Blanco County Courthouse was the first permanent courthouse built after the seat of government moved from Blanco to Johnson City in 1890. Serving as contractor for the project was stonemason James Waterston, who had come from Scotland to Texas in 1883 to aid in the construction of the state Capitol. The Classical Revival limestone structure features Doric columns and a domed cupola. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983"

Johnson City was not always the county seat.  Reconfiguration of the county (with additions from and subtractions to surrounding counties) resulted in Johnson City being closer to the geographic center of the county than the former seat, Blanco.  A courthouse built in the latter town in 1885 was abandoned just six years later when Johnson City (not surprisingly, founded by relatives of former president Lyndon B. Johnson) won a hotly-contested election to become the county seat.

text only © Amanda Pape - 2010