Only Bricks and Mortar: Smith County, Texas and the Case for Preserving

Modern Courthouses in Texas

Mark Osborne HIST501

November 14, 2010

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“Broadway Connection Possible, Texas Supreme Court Rules.” With this headline in

The Tyler Courier-Times of March 12, 1952, a four-year legal battle ended over ownership of

Smith County’s courthouse square, of which Tyler is the county seat, and the ability to bisect the

square, thus, connecting the north and south portions of the city’s main north-south artery,

Broadway Avenue.1 One very large problem remained, however. The county’s Classical Revival

courthouse, built in 1910, sprawled across the square exactly where developers wanted to pave

the way for the Broadway connection. By 1955, the 1910 courthouse would be demolished, the

Broadway connection would be complete, and Smith County would have a new modern

courthouse, all to the satisfaction of the county’s leading business and industrial leaders.

In recent years, efforts, guided by the Texas Historical Commission, have been underway

to restore, primarily, those Texas courthouses that were built in the nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries.2 As a result, these efforts largely ignore and deny the modern courthouses,

especially those built in the 1950s, like the 1955 Smith County courthouse, a place in

preservation discussions. One possible explanation for the plight of the modern courthouses may

lie in their very design. For the courthouses built after 1950, do not employ the same

architectural grand, traditional themes and decorations that make their nineteenth-century

counterparts so beloved. Per the aesthetics of the time, the modern courthouses are sleek,

unadorned and functional. Some go as far as to say they are downright ugly.3

1 “Court Ruling Okays Joining Broadway,” The Tyler Courier-Times, March 12, 1952 2 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010). 3 Dan K. Utley and Bob Brinkman, “More Than Bricks and Mortar: Preserving Historic Courthouses in East Texas,” East Texas Historical Journal 43, no. 2 (2005): 32-49.

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On the contrary, modern Texas courthouses, just like their nineteenth-century

counterparts, stand as historical symbols of the economic and cultural aspirations of their citizens

and, therefore, deserve consideration for preservation.

A comparison of courthouse construction dates since 1830, culled from Texas Historical

Commission data and arranged into 20-year increments, reveals that from the growth of

agriculture in the nineteenth century to oil and gas production in the early twentieth to the

military-industrial complex of mid-century, courthouse-building in Texas has followed the

economic highs and lows of the state. Furthermore, stories culled from the only daily newspaper

and the one weekly newspaper in Tyler, Texas, show that a carefully constructed campaign to

build a modern courthouse in Smith County serves as a compelling example of how the very

modern economic aspirations of one Texas county played out on the courthouse square.

Most of Texas history deals with the battles, the heroes and the “otherness” of Texas.

With the preservation efforts of the last decade, beautifully photographed coffee table books of

the most beloved courthouses have appeared along with very good, if slightly subjective,

accounts found in local historical society archives. Beyond these resources and the helpful, but

dry, courthouse guidebooks, Utley and Brinkman provide one of the better case studies, using

East Texas as a contrast point, of some of the unique preservation challenges facing counties

statewide.4 There have also been a handful of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations on the

subject, but Veselka’s work stands out among these. Not fully edited and published until six

years after his death in 1994, The Courthouse Square in Texas, with data drawn from both

archival sources and site visits to 139 of the 254 county seats, provides one of the most complete

4 Ibid.

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accounts of the types and significance of the Texas courthouse square.5 For his work, Veselka

draws on another seminal piece of scholarship on the courthouse square. Price, in The Central

Courthouse Square in American County Seat, identifies and defines the various courthouse

square configurations that developed from Europe to the eastern United States and eventually,

into the South and Midwest.6

While Veselka and Price provide excellent accounts of Texas and American courthouse

squares, respectively, both approach the subject through geographical studies regarding the

roads, courthouse placement and square configurations. Veselka provides some insight into the

significance of the Texas courthouse; however, scant research exists regarding courthouses, and

their squares, as symbols of the cultural, economic and social traditions and aspirations of their

respective residents. By studying Texas courthouses in relationship to the economic times in

which they were built, one may move beyond the purely geographical data and more subjective

cultural and social histories – and the inevitable nostalgia that accompany some of these

histories.

The link between courthouse-building and the Texas economy goes back to the early

days of the Republic. With the fight for independence from Mexico complete, Texas began

establishing county boundaries and their associated county seats. From 1830 to 1849, 80

courthouses were constructed.7 These first structures were more functional than monumental,

5 Robert E. Veselka, The Courthouse Square in Texas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press), 2007. 6 Edward T. Price, “The Central Courthouse Square in the American County Seat,” Geographical Review 58, no. 1 (1968): 29-60. 7 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010).

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usually constructed of logs or milled lumber with no distinctive features, and often set along

other businesses in the town square.8

This trend continued into the 1850s and 1860s, after Texas entered the Union in 1846, as

over 150 new courthouses were built.9 During this time, many new counties were established and

thus, the need for a courthouse. More importantly, counties across Texas reaped the benefits of

increased agricultural activity. Prior to the courthouse construction boom that began in the

1850s, agricultural production had little effect on the prosperity of individual counties. Most

farming and ranching in the first half of the nineteenth century consisted of sustenance farming

near family homes and missions scattered across Texas, at the time. Not until the arrival of

settlers from the United States did slave-based cotton-plantation systems, commercial livestock

production, and small, non-slaveholding family farms quickly emerge, taking advantage of the

abundant and fertile lands in South Central Texas and the Gulf Coast region. By the start of the

Civil War, Texans managed large cotton plantations and drove cattle to markets in Louisiana,

Mississippi, Arkansas and Illinois. At this time, cotton production rose rapidly to become the

primary export of Texas and along with it a rise in the numbers of slaves brought into Texas to

work the land – over 180,000 by 1860. Subsequent waves of immigration of Germans into the

Hill Country, Czechs into the Brazos River Valley, and Norwegians and Anglos into the

Blackland Prairies and Cross Timbers regions of north Texas saw additional crops and livestock,

like goats and sheep, being introduced into Texas agriculture.10

8 Utley and Brinkman, 32. 9 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010). 10 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Agriculture,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ online/articles/AA/ama1.html (accessed October 6, 2010).

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Increased agricultural production coincided with skyrocketing courthouse building during

the period from 1870 to 1889 with 222 new courthouses being built.11 Many of the early

courthouses were small and many others were destroyed in fires. This may account for some of

the construction during this period, but other factors definitely increased the need for better

courthouse facilities and the desire to build impressive structures across the state. This period

saw the rise of large-scale agriculture and ranching, and the arrival of the railroad, which

provided the ability to transport goods to new markets. Also, the work of the new land grant

college, Texas A&M, demonstrated new, scientific farm and livestock management techniques

that promised better crop yields, healthier livestock, and thus, higher profits. The growth in

agriculture, railroad transportation and courthouse construction remained unabated throughout

the remainder of the nineteenth century as 152 new courthouses were built in the years from

1890-1910.12

Agriculture would continue to fuel courthouse construction in the period from 1910-1929

with 115 new structures being built.13 However, adding to the wealth of agriculture, which had

spread and diversified across the state, came the discovery and production of oil and gas.

Even though oil deposits in Texas had been discovered since the time of Spanish

exploration, true oil exploration and production did not commence until the discoveries in 1894

in Navarro County, about --- miles south of Dallas, and the first major oil boom at Spindletop

near Beaumont in 1902. In the early years, exploration and production was limited to the Gulf

Coast region with major wells coming in around Houston. Oil companies, refineries and

11 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010). 12 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Agriculture,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/AA/ama1.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 13 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010).

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suppliers – large and small – sprung up almost overnight with the four largest companies running

about 18,000,000 barrels of oil in 1904.14

All of the activity in the Gulf Coast region expanded the economies of cities and villages,

especially after service, supply, and related manufacturing companies located plants and

distribution facilities in the Houston-Beaumont-Port Arthur area, thereby diversifying the

economy of the region. The Houston Ship Channel opened in 1914 and began to attract refineries

after the end of World War I. By 1929, 27 percent of all manufacturing employees in Harris

County were employed by refineries.15

Between 1911 and 1921, wildcatters found numerous fields, including five that rank in

the group of four dozen that comprise the major oil plays in Texas. New corporate and service

and supply centers helped spur development in places like Wichita Falls, Fort Worth and

Midland-Odessa. By 1920, Wichita Falls’ population had grown from 8,200 in 1910 to over

40,000. Likewise, during the 1920s, new discoveries in the Panhandle, southwest Texas and

central Texas solidified the role of the petrochemical industry in Texas. In addition to crude,

major natural gas deposits were found in south central Texas near San Antonio, spurring

additional construction of pipelines to the refining center along the Gulf Coast. In the first

quarter of 1929, Texas operators produced 69,541,834 barrels of oil.16

Courthouse construction would drop off dramatically in the period from 1930 to 1949

with only 56 being built.17 This was due, in part, to the economic stresses of the Great

14 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Oil and Gas Industry," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/OO/doogz.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010).

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Depression and Dust Bowl as well as the shortage of materials and labor during World War II.

During this period, agriculture remained vital to the economy and some courthouse construction

was completed under the New Deal WPA program, but courthouse construction was affected,

mostly, by a booming oil and gas industry and the Texas’ emergence as a major provider for the

military.

By 1929, oil exploration and production had extended beyond the Coastal Plain into

North Texas, the central section of the state, and into the Panhandle and Permian Basin of West

Texas. However, East Texas, the final section of the state to obtain high-volume oil production,

proved to be one of the richest areas in the state with the first discovery in 1930. With a field

approximately 43 miles long and over 12miles wide, average daily production quickly reached

303,750 barrels. Operators had drilled 1,100 wells by mid-1931 and more than 2,000 more by the

end of the year. By mid-year, thirty-one refineries had been completed and six more were under

construction with refineries in Tyler, Dallas and Fort Worth being among the largest in North

Texas. One hundred one-barrel and two-barrel "cookers" were also manufacturing gasoline and

kerosene in the field. Production in the field soared from 109,561,000 barrels in 1931 to

156,109,346 in 1932 and 211,586,118 in 1933. At the end of 1935, there were still more than

1,000 operators in the field, producing oil from 19,313 wells.18

The effects of the East Texas oilfield on prices and regulations are best discussed

elsewhere. Of most relevance, here, is that this discovery, as well as those across the state,

brought such new wealth to the area that many towns were transformed, almost overnight, and

definitely had an effect on county governments and their need – or desire – for new courthouses.

18 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Oil and Gas Industry," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/ articles/OO/doogz.html (accessed October 6, 2010).

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By 1941, the East Texas field had settled into a stable production pattern and there was

renewed interest in the West Texas Permian Basin region. Overall, oil and gas production slowed

across the state as labor and materials went into the war effort.19 With the onset of World War II,

however, Texas found a new economic partner – the United States military.

From early frontier forts to the establishment of training camps, army posts and aviation

centers during World War I, the U.S. military had maintained a visible presence in Texas.

However, defense and defense-related industries took an increasingly large role in the Texas

economy during World War II. Numerous existing bases, availability of land, public support for

the military, and an increasingly influential congressional delegation made Texas an important

military training center in World War II. From San Antonio to Fort Worth and Houston to El

Paso, more than 200,000 airmen trained in Texas, which had more than fifty airfields and air

stations, and 70 prisoner of war camps.20

War funding, both federal and private, brought massive industrial development to Texas.

Aircraft production blossomed in Dallas-Fort Worth; shipbuilding boomed in Orange, Port

Arthur, Beaumont, Houston, and Galveston. Sprawling industries along the Gulf Coast also

formed the world's largest petrochemical center. Munitions plants, steel mills, and tin smelters

were built, and increased demand for food, timber, and oil offered new opportunities throughout

the state. With labor at a premium, half a million rural Texans moved to the cities, and women

and minorities took jobs once reserved for white males.21

After 1950, courthouse construction slowed dramatically with only 70 courthouses being

built through 2009 (compared to 259 from 1900-1949). In the 1950s, only 26 were built, of

19 Ibid. 20 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Military History," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ online/articles/MM/qzmtg.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 21 Ibid.

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which, 20 still exist.22 It is difficult to equate the decline in courthouse construction in the 1950s

with any downturn in the Texas economy. On the contrary, farming and ranching in the state was

modernizing and benefiting from new types of seeds, fertilizers and chemical pesticides. New

irrigation methods brought cotton farming to the flatland prairies of West Texas. Plus, farm and

ranch life was improving as the final electrification of rural areas ended.23 Likewise, oil and gas

production remained vital to the state. By the end of the decade, new discoveries had been made

in southeast Texas, better management methods were taking hold and demand for oil and gas,

and its by-products, was high.24 Furthermore, the military-industrial complex, touted by

Eisenhower and urged on by the Cold War, was firmly in place with major establishments in San

Antonio, Killeen, Fort Worth and Houston.25

One explanation to the sudden decline in construction may be that many counties, flush

with oil money in the period from 1920 to 1949, had already built “modern” courthouses.26

Those counties that did build new courthouses in the 1950s may have been trying to catch up,

dealing with rising populations and thus, pressures on county government, or truly wanting to

portray a truly modern image that would attract business and industry, at the time.

Whatever the reason, the courthouses of the 1950s reveal a marked contrast from their

nineteenth century and early twentieth century counterparts. Through the 1920s, Texas

courthouses were built in variety of Romantic and period styles, including French Second

22 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010). 23 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Agriculture,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/AA/ama1.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 24 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Oil and Gas Industry," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/OO/doogz.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 25 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Military History," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/qzmtg.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 26 Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm (accessed October 1, 2010).

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Empire, Italianate, Richardsonian Romanesque, Renaissance Revival, Beaux Arts, and Classical

Revival, with the latter dominating construction at the turn of the twentieth century. While these

courthouses were in keeping with styles across the United States, many Texas counties added

regional embellishments to each style, especially Classical Revival, including Mediterranean

accents along the Gulf Coast, Prairie Style modifications in South and West Texas, and a distinct

Texas Renaissance style in the 1920s – all signs of the importance of these structures to their

counties’ identities. Toward the end of the 1920s, one begins to see the emergence of Art Deco

and Moderne-style courthouses that would dominate the 1930s and 1940s. While all of the

courthouses built in the 1950s are classified as Modern, they do vary from sleek, multi-storey

buildings to single-storey “motel”-style buildings.27

Smith County, Texas built one of the sleek, multi-storey courthouses. Located in the

Pineywoods region of Texas, Smith County, Texas is located approximately 90 miles east of

Dallas and just south of Interstate 20. A mix of dense post oak, blackjack oak, pine and

hardwood forests, open grasslands, sandy and clay soils, and gently rolling hills make up the

geography of the area. Tyler, the county seat and largest city, has long been the commercial and

industrial hub of the county. Culturally, Smith County, and East Texas, for that matter, is more

Southern in heritage, customs and speech than other parts of Texas.28

Founded in 1846, Smith County’s fortunes – and misfortunes – parallel those of the state

in many ways with only slight variations. At the time, most agricultural production remained

small, mostly providing for individual families.29 During this time, the county had three log

cabin courthouses. However, in line with the first boom in courthouse construction, Smith

27 Ibid. 28 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smith County," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ online/articles/SS/hcs11.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 29 Ibid.

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County built a permanent two-story, brick structure in the Second Empire style in 1851.30 At the

time, Smith County reached a population of 4,292, including 717 black slaves, while Tyler had

276 residents. Corn and cotton were the primary crops with local residents growing peaches,

apples, grapes, blackberries, and vegetables. Within ten years, the county population had more

than tripled to 13,392 residents and the number of slaves had increased to 4,980. Tyler’s

population skyrocketed to 1,021 lived and small towns began to spring up throughout the county.

Likewise, cotton production increased, and hog and cattle production more than tripled.31

Development, however, was not limited to agriculture. In 1860 the county had six

sawmills, five gristmills, three corn-whiskey distilleries, seventeen blacksmith shops, nine wagon

makers, three saddle shops, five cabinetmakers, and thirty-one general stores. Tyler had become

a stop on the routes of five stagecoach lines that transported both passengers and mail and had

emerged as an important legal center for the region. County residents also established thirty-one

common schools, forty-five churches, and five Masonic lodges.32

Smith County rode out the Civil War as important refuge for many Southerners and as a

location for a prisoner of war camp, Camp Ford. After the war, however, many people left the

county, land values decreased and livestock prices dipped. But by 1870 the population was

growing again with over 16,000 county residents. In late 1870s, two railroads – a branch of the

International and Great Northern and the Tyler Tap Railroad – provided 104 miles of track and

30 John Troesser, ed., TexasEscapes, “Smith County Courthouse,” http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/ Tyler-Texas-Smith-County-Courthouse.htm (accessed September 10, 2010). 31 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smith County," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ online/articles/SS/hcs11.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 32 Ibid.

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the promise of new markets for the booming production of corn, oats and cotton, which had more

than tripled from 9,763 bales in 1860 to 45,703 in 1880.33

In fact, the populations of Smith County and Tyler would continue to grow throughout

the 1890s along with crops, livestock and industries, like bottling works and cigar factory.34

However, what is interesting is that despite all of this growth and while the rest of the state was

caught up in a courthouse construction frenzy – 135 in the 1880s alone – Smith County was

content to simply add third floor to their existing Second Empire courthouse and build small

annexes at each corner of the courthouse square.35

By the time, the county did build a new courthouse in 1910, the area had survived a

serious blight on local peach orchards and strawberry fields, and saw the introduction of rose-

growing – an iconic fixture of the area to this day.36 Seemingly a tribute to prosperity and

triumph of the region, the new Classical Revival courthouse stood imposingly across the square.

This three-storey courthouse with its classic details, columned porches, domed clock tower and

statue of justice, fulfilled the role of county capitol and stood as a symbol of stability,

permanence and tradition.37

33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 John Troesser, ed., TexasEscapes, “Smith County Courthouse,” http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/ Tyler-Texas-Smith-County-Courthouse.htm (accessed September 10, 2010). 36 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smith County," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ online/articles/SS/hcs11.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 37 John Troesser, ed., TexasEscapes, “Smith County Courthouse,” http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/ Tyler-Texas-Smith-County-Courthouse.htm (accessed September 10, 2010).

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Smith County would need that symbol of stability as it weathered the trials and

tribulations of World War I, increased infrastructure needs of the 1920s, boll weevil infestations,

and the onset of the Great Depression.38

However, all was not bleak. In the 1930s, the rose industry continued to grow, new soil

conservation measures were introduced in the county, and New Deal construction projects run by

the Civilian Conservation Corps helped Smith County make it through. The biggest boost,

however, came in 1931 with the discovery of oil in Smith County that filled local coffers with

new tax dollars and welcomed new people to the area, ultimately, increasing the population of

the county to 69,090 and of Tyler to 28,279 by 1940. Tyler also took its first steps to becoming

the medical care hub of the region with the opening of Mother Frances Hospital in 1936.39

Smith County continued to prosper during World War II. In 1943 Camp Fannin, an

infantry-training center northeast of Tyler, employed over 2,500 civilians and also brought army

personnel into local towns, thus creating additional demand locally for goods and services. In

addition, an extensive railroad system and efforts of the Tyler Industrial Foundation brought new

industry to the area.40

By the end of the 1940s, like the rest of Texas, Smith County had prospered through

growth in agriculture, oil and gas production and the military. Also, like many other counties in

the 1930s and 1940s, discussions about building a new, modern courthouse in Tyler began

38 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smith County," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/hcs11.html (accessed October 6, 2010). 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid.

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around 1943. It would be another 20 years before the citizens of Smith County would vote to

build that modern courthouse.41

First, though, questions regarding ownership of the courthouse square had to be settled.

While talk of connecting Broadway through the square and the subsequent need to move the

courthouse had been going on since the early 1940s, it was not until a chamber of commerce

meeting in 1948 that a group declared that “the days of a town growing around a town square are

over.”42 The day before, a local attorney, Fred Hughes, who had been studying the question of

ownership for six months, reported to the county commissioners court in December 1948 that the

county could move the courthouse, if it saw fit. Having gone back to the original order to create

Smith County and the actions of the first commissioners court, Hughes listed several reasons

why such a move would be legal. Chief among these reasons were that the county had, in fact,

purchased the property that made up the square for the sum of $150, a fair consideration, at the

time, according to Hughes. Furthermore, Hughes argued that no individual could claim property

rights in relation to the square, and that there existed no contract that impelled the county to keep

the courthouse at its present location.43

In an attempt to settle the question once and for all, a “friendly” lawsuit was filed in the

district court on December 15, 1948. The lawsuit sought to settle the questions of ownership of

the square, the rights of the county regarding moving the courthouse, the ability for the county to

sell the property, and the rights of property owners within a 100-acre boundary around the

41 “Election Carries by 239 Votes: Tyler Precincts Put Bond Over,” The Tyler Courier-Times, May 3, 1953. 42 “New Legal Group Waits Legal Action in Problem,” The Tyler Courier-Times, December 7, 1948. 43 “Smith County Courthouse Can Legally Be Moved, Is Attorney’s Opinion,” The Tyler Courier-Times, December 6, 1948.

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square.44 By January 1949, the county’s attorney, Fred Weeks, was hopeful that a hearing before

the district court would happen toward the end of January and that the suit could move to the

Texas Supreme Court by February.45 However, legal challenges would go on for another three

years resulting in a decision by the Texas Supreme Court in March 1952. By this time, both the

questions of ownership and the ability to connect Broadway were settled. The courts had sided,

in effect, with the county that they did, in fact, own the courthouse and could dispose of it as they

saw fit. However, the court declared that the square belonged to the people and could not be

disturbed. Subsequent challenges regarding Broadway were settled when the Supreme Court

ruled that nothing in the original ruling precluded the county working with the city to connect the

north and south sections of Broadway through the square.46

With these questions finally settled, the debate over the courthouse and Broadway would

simmer for another year when in March 1953, the commissioners court ramped up efforts to

place the question before voters. In an interesting move, instead of appointing a separate citizens

panel, the court summoned a grand jury on April 4, 1953 to study the courthouse question along

with a full docket of felony cases. After spending the week touring the 1910 courthouse and

hearing testimony on the question, the grand jury unanimously recommended to the

commissioners court that a new courthouse be built.47

44 “County Action Nears Climax as Courthouse Suit is Filed: Declaratory Judgement [sic] is Sought on Ownership,” The Tyler Courier-Times, December 15, 1948. 45 “Courthouse Title Question May Hit Court January 24,” The Tyler Courier-Times, January 6, 1949. 46 “Court Ruling Okays Joining Broadway,” The Tyler Courier-Times, March 12, 1952. 47 “Courthouse Resolution Action May Be Taken,” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 10, 1953.

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On April 13, 1953, the Smith County commissioners court set a bond election for May 2,

1953, and a full campaign to ensure an election victory ensued.48 The Tyler Courier-Times, the

only daily newspaper in Tyler, printed a series of articles on the state of the 1910 courthouse and

the need for a new one. Through pictures of county records stored haphazardly in the

courthouse’s bell tower and stories of the women’s restroom facilities being commandeered for

office space, the crowded conditions of the courthouse were detailed.49 Editorials ticked off one

good reason after another for a new courthouse – the jail on the top floor of the new courthouse

instead of blocks away, temporary hospital beds for mental patients, adequate restroom facilities

for men, women and Negroes, additional office space and finally, and even more beautiful

square.50 The only weekly newspaper in Tyler, the Star-Mirror, usually a beacon of populism

and dissent, also endorsed the move in a special early edition mailed to subscribers the week

before the election.51 An election committee traveled the county to enlist support for the new

courthouse and print ads showed an artist’s rendering (there were no architectural drawing, yet)

of the new courthouse, Broadway running through the square, and the park that would occupy

the west side of the square.52

On May 2, 1953, Smith County voters approved the $1.5 million bond issue that would

fund the courthouse. The final vote count was 2,518 to 2,279 with most of the support coming

48 “Tyler to Annex 1,600 Acres; Courthouse Election Called: Commissioners Set May 2 Vote,” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 13, 1953. 49 “New Courthouse or Old One?” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 19, 1953. 50 Editorial, “Vote for Courthouse We Need,” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 19, 1953. 51 “Say Yes May 2,” The Tyler Star’s Sunday Mirror, May 3, 1953. 52 “County Vote Drive Shapes,” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 30, 1953.

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from within Tyler. Voters in the small, rural towns of Smith County almost unanimously voted

down the bond with only a few approving it.53

Throughout the reporting of the election campaign, hints of opposition to the bond

election and the need for a new courthouse, but are never given a clear hearing in the press. One

voice, however, was heard. In a letter to the editor of the Tyler Courier-Times, prominent Tyler

doctor Albert Woldert expressed his dismay over the handling of the issue. In his letter, Woldert

called into question why the county had not produced architectural drawings for the public to

view, why the rush to call a bond election so quickly and haphazardly, and why there had not

been more study done to see if the existing courthouse could be modified or renovated to provide

for better office and storage space. He also clearly states that he understands the issue of

connecting Broadway is truly at the heart of election, but that no one has seen fit to bring it up.54

Beyond the reported (or suppressed) pros and cons of building a new courthouse in Smith

County, other events during this time help shed some light on the progress the county, and

especially, Tyler, were making. For instance, at the same time the county called its bond election,

the city called its own bond election for May 12, 1953 – ten days after the county election – to

address water and infrastructure issues.55 Likewise, the Tyler school board called a bond election

for May 26, 1953.56 One has to wonder if voters knew exactly for which bond they were voting.

In other events, the city was considering annexing 16,000 acres of additional land; county and

city leaders were wooing General Electric to build a plant in Tyler; and, as a headline read on

53 “Election Carries by 239 Votes: Tyler Precincts Put Bond Over,” The Tyler Courier-Times, May 3, 1953. 54 Albert Woldert, M.D., letter to the editor, The Tyler Courier-Times, April 26, 1953. 55 “$2 Million Asked of Tyler Voters,” The Tyler Courier-Times, April 13, 1953. 56 “Commission Orders Vote on School Bond,” The Tyler Courier-Times, May 1, 1953.

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April 10, 1953, “Tyler Building Boom Gains” with $500,000 in new building permits for

apartment and office buildings, one of which was for Humble Oil & Refining.

By 1955, Smith County had its new, modern courthouse and was awash in contradiction.

Still mostly a rural county in East Texas filled with orchards and pasture land, its county seat,

Tyler, was successfully promoting itself as a city where “lusty expansion is converting into a

new, modern metropolis,” replete with a neon-drenched central business district, major retailers

like Sears and JCPenney, new hotels with all the modern conveniences, and modern

infrastructure – a place throbbing “with the pulse beat of industrial growth.”57

Something had definitely changed, and at the heart of that change, was the courthouse as

both victim and triumphant symbol of progress. The Classical Revival 1910 courthouse, a

symbol of economic progress in its day, was no longer adequate. It had served its role as the

predominant and centripetal anchor to a bustling central business district.58 Its monumental size

and traditional architecture symbolized the centrality of government, the rule of law and civic

pride.

In contrast, the Modern 1955 courthouse, devoid of ornamentation and monumentality,

symbolized progress of an efficient, streamlined and mechanized economic age. The issue of

ownership struck at the very heart of the legal issues of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Ultimately, the courts held that the people owned the land upon which the courthouse stood, but

that the county commissioners could dispose of the courthouse as they saw fit. Acting as the

biggest boosters for the new courthouse and the promise of increased economic activity in and

57 Tyler Chamber of Commerce, “Tyler, Texas – Where Life is Enjoyable,” Texas Archive of the Moving Image, embedded video file, 35:50, http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=Tyler%2C_Texas_%E2%80%93 _Where_Life_is_Enjoyable (accessed September 3, 2010). 58 Veselka, 179-190

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around Tyler, area businessmen, industrialists and bankers found their placed alongside

government. In effect, the 1955 courthouse – and its bisected square – became co-dominant with

the businesses, industries and banks of the central business district. Symbolically, the courthouse

– and, by extension, county government was “pushed aside,” as the 1910 courthouse’s strident

position across the square and the main thoroughfare gave way to the 1955 courthouse’s position

as just another office building.

With the repositioning of the 1955 courthouse, its power as a centripetal force within the

business district waned and became more centrifugal as residential, commercial and industrial

development developed far south of the central area.59 After 1955, Tyler’s central courthouse

square as the center of communal activity – parades, festivals, picnics – also waned over time.

With the demolition of the 1910 courthouse, Smith County and the city of Tyler

definitely lost a treasure. With the current flurry of courthouse restorations taking place across

the state, the 1910 courthouse would have been a jewel and possible economic engine for the

county and the city of Tyler. However, Smith County’s current courthouse is now, itself, over 50

years old and eligible for designation as historic. And that it is. Just like the monumental and

ornamented courthouses that preceded it, the current courthouse provides a standing symbol of

the economic aspirations and prosperity of Smith County in the years following World War II.

Despite whatever feelings about a nostalgic past versus a modern future simmer under the

surface of some courthouse debates, the historical significance of this modern courthouse, and its

modern counterparts across the state, should not be dismissed.

59 Ibid.

Works Cited Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Agriculture,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/

online/articles/AA/ama1.html (accessed October 6, 2010). Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Military History," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/

articles/MM/qzmtg.html (accessed October 6, 2010). Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Oil and Gas Industry," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/

online/articles/OO/doogz.html (accessed October 6, 2010). Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Smith County," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/

online/articles/SS/hcs11.html (accessed October 6, 2010). Price, Edward T., “The Central Courthouse Square in the American County Seat,” Geographical

Review 58, no. 1 (1968): 29-60. (accessed September 11, 2010). Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/shell-mrd.htm

(accessed October 1, 2010). Troesser, John, ed., TexasEscapes, “Smith County Courthouse,”

http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Tyler-Texas-Smith-County-Courthouse.htm (accessed September 10, 2010).

Tyler Chamber of Commerce, “Tyler, Texas – Where Life is Enjoyable,” Texas Archive of the

Moving Image, embedded video file, 35:50, http://www.texasarchive.org/library/ index.php?title=Tyler%2C_Texas_%E2%80%93 _Where_Life_is_Enjoyable (accessed September 3, 2010).

The Tyler Courier-Times. “$2 Million Asked of Tyler Voters.”April 13, 1953. ------- .“Commission Orders Vote on School Bond.” May 1, 1953. ------- . “County Action Nears Climax as Courthouse Suit is Filed: Declaratory Judgement [sic]

is Sought on Ownership,” December 15, 1948. ------- . “County Vote Drive Shapes.” April 30, 1953. ------- . “Court Ruling Okays Joining Broadway.” March 12, 1952. ------- . “Courthouse Resolution Action May Be Taken.” April 10, 1953. ------- . “Courthouse Title Question May Hit Court January 24.” January 6, 1949. ------- . Editorial, “Vote for Courthouse We Need.” April 19, 1953.

------- . “Election Carries by 239 Votes: Tyler Precincts Put Bond Over.” May 3, 1953. ------- . “New Courthouse or Old One?” April 19, 1953. ------- . “New Legal Group Waits Legal Action in Problem.” December 7, 1948. ------- . “Smith County Courthouse Can Legally Be Moved, Is Attorney’s Opinion.” December

6, 1948. ------- . “Tyler to Annex 1,600 Acres; Courthouse Election Called: Commissioners Set May 2

Vote.” April 13, 1953. ------- . Woldert, Albert, M.D., letter to the editor. April 26, 1953. The Tyler Star’s Sunday Mirror. “Say Yes May 2.” May 3, 1953. Utley, Dan K. and Bob Brinkman, “More Than Bricks and Mortar: Preserving Historic

Courthouses in East Texas,” East Texas Historical Journal 43, no. 2 (2005): 32-49. Veselka, Robert E., The Courthouse Square in Texas (Chicago: The University of Chicago

Press), 2007.