Panola County Texas
Courthouses
From Know Your Heritage by Leila B. LaGrone
The Panola Watchman newspaper column, June 15, 1975
The county fathers had to face the responsibility of carving a town out of a forest twice within a decade. the county eat was Pulaski, a small village on the east bank of the Sabine River, and the first county government took place there. No records give when the log courthouse there was constructed, but it was evidently one large room with a fireplace at the end. This location was temporary and was used only two years, 1846-1848, when Carthage became the permanent County Seat.
In 1848, Carthage, a pine forest near the center of the county, was chosen as the permanent seat for county business. At the November 1848, term of court, first plans were made to build a court house at Carthage. Pat M. Martin was authorized to advertise for bids to build a courthouse. Martin first made a contract with Samuel hooker but, for some reason not given in the official documents, he forfeited the contract. In May 1849, Martin reported to the Court that he had contracted with D. B. Smith and Company for $200 and the offer was accepted. The log cabin located in the center of town on the public square, was ready by August 1949. The cost, $200, was paid in cash from proceeds of sale of Carthage town lots.
At the same time, the Court was working to establish a safe storage for records of District and County Court. One is indebted to them for this. Panola County records have been preserved better than most county files. In September 1849, a contract was granted to William White for "building a frame house with a partition through the middle to be used for a County and District Clerk's office." This building was completed and White received $150 for the work. This building, along with the courthouse, with fireplaces added and a few minor repairs, continued to be used until a brick Courthouse was built in 1853.
In February 1852, a committee was appointed to draft "plans and specifications similar to those used in the courthouse at Marshall." W. R. Poage, B. L. Goods, and L. B. Dozier were the committeemen. Bids were opened on June 5, 1952; and James L. Howard had the most acceptable bid, $5,400, and he contracted for the job. He promised to have the building complete by November 17, 1852, but some changes during the next few months caused delay. In December 1852, the Court accepted the work with high praise. The timbers from the old courthouse were sold but the records do not show the amount paid for them. Of special interest is the discovery that James L. Howard did not live to see the completion of the work, as the final payment was made to his wife. The only plausible reason for that would be that he had died.
The County and District Court offices were then sold and all records were stored in the new courthouse. The only clues available for the specifications of the courthouse are in various decisions made in months that followed. In May 1854, plans were made to floor the County and District offices and $25 was appropriated for that purpose -" flooring the County and District Clerk's offices in the new Courthouse, also for making and furnishing suitable shutters to each of the staircases and sealing up some." Specific instructions were given to build a fence four feet high, according to careful specifications. Some old pictures show the fence around the Courthouse lawn. During these years, a jail also was built, but the details are too long to be give here.
The years of the Civil War saw many needed repairs go undone and the Reconstruction period brought more destruction and greater need for sturdy jail cells. Major concern was on strengthening and enlarging the jail. The people, already destitute, were taxed so heavily that many lost their land. In July 1871, the court (now a Police Court) gave instructions on what officer should have each officer room on the "lower floor of the Courthouse."
The third courthouse to be built on the square in Carthage was Gothic Castle Architecture completed in 1885 with J. E. Gibson, architect, and J. M. Brown, contractor. It was placed on the same site cleared by salvaging the brick Courthouse build in 1852. The contract price was $27,375. It was used for 68 years, when it was replaced by the present larger, modern building two blocks west of the square on the Sycamore Street in 1953. The old courthouse continued to stand some months while a controversy raged over whether it could be repaired, or should it be demolished. When advocates of preservation could not come up with financial backing for such an undertaking the building was sold at public auction for $3,000. It was demolished in 1956.
The original Courthouse square become a public park named for the land donor (Jonathan Anderson), Anderson Park. The new Courthouse had jail facilities on the third floor, which is still in use today, 1975. Note: A modern detention center (jail) and some renovation was added to the present courthouse in 1986.
Hats Off! to The Old Red Review, official newspaper of the Panola County Historical and Genealogical Association for reprinting this article. For a copy of the book Know Your Heritage, which contains all Mrs. LaGrone's columns, or for more information about PCHGA, contact Panola County Historical & Genealogical Association by email or phone 903-693-3388.
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03/21/05