Once considered ugliest, courthouse has taken many turns
Vote in Gazette’s Courthouse Challenge
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth installment in the Courthouse Challenge series. From now until Dec. 20 you can vote on the best looking courthouse in the region online at texarkanagazette.com. This Challenge is not paywall protected. Subscribers and nonsubscribers can go to the polling page and vote.
Four earlier courthouses came and went before the current Titus County Courthouse in Mount Pleasant, Texas, was constructed in 1895—and it has taken several forms, including one once known for its unsightliness.
Buildings completed in 1846, 1851, 1859 and 1860 served as the courthouse, but none of them still exists, according to texas- courthouses.com.
The two-story 1895 building was made of brick and featured a central clock tower. Noted Mississippi architects Francis Blair Hull and William S. Hull designed the building, according to courthousehistory.com.
Contractor J.L. Crigler Co.
modernized the courthouse into an Art Deco form in 1940. Its shape somewhat resembles that of the Miller County, Ark., Courthouse built a year earlier, also in Art Deco style.
In 1962, the building was enclosed in aluminum siding, prompting some to call it the state’s ugliest courthouse.
“It looked like a very large air conditioner, as opposed to a building,” said Steve Austin with the Titus County Historical Commission. The older the siding got, the worse it came to look, he said.
Restoration completed in 1995 returned the building to its 1940 state. The project removed the siding, covered the exterior with fresh stucco and installed bronze-anodized aluminum windows.
“We’re proud to be out from under the umbrella of ‘the ugliest courthouse in the state.’ It cleans up pretty well. It’s not one of the old bell tower, stone-type courthouses that we once had, but it serves our purpose,” Austin said, adding that he has confidence in the building’s structure.
“It’s substantial. I’m not in any fears of any tornadoes or anything like that. It’s not going anywhere,” he said.
Other improvements over the years have included installing an elevator for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
At 100 W. First St. in Mount Pleasant, the Titus County Courthouse is home to county government offices, a library, juvenile probation offices and the County Historical Commission.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Texarkana Gazette and texarkanagazette.com will present one courthouse a day (14 in all) until Dec. 18. At our website you can vote on the best looking courthouse. There you will find a direct link in one of the main display windows, or you can click on any of the related courthouse stories for links to the Challenge. You will also find links to the polling site from our Facebook page, and some of you may find links through Breaking News or Updates we send out through email.
The system that manages the Challenge will accept one vote per computer or mobile device. The top three vote-getters, in reverse order, will be featured in articles from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30. A week before this announcement three other courthouses will be featured, notable buildings that are either outside this region, or are no longer active county seats. These are not part of the Courthouse Challenge, but we think you will find them interesting. All the courthouses in the Challenge can be seen at the online polling site.)