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Gray County
Formed from Young and Bexar Territories; Created August 21, 1876; Organized May 27, 1902; Named in Honor of Peter W. Gray 1819-1874; Member of the First Legislature of Texas; Member of the Confederate Congress; Appointed to the Texas Supreme Bench in 1874; County Seat, Lefors, 1902; Pampa, Since 1928 |
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Gray County Courthouse National Registry
The Gray County Courthouse (1929) in the panhandle city of Pampa, Texas, is a four-story, steel frame Beaux Arts building with a raised basement and flat roof. The curtain walls are sheathed in a veneer of Indiana limestone and buff brick, with large pivoted windows. The rectangular building is 90 feet wide on the east-west axis, and 125 feet long on the north-south axis, and features a central plan, with entrances on the north, east and south sides. The west interior features a grand staircase in place of a west entrance, but the fenestration and ornamentation patterns are consistent with that on the other facades. Shallow pavilions project from each side of the building. The courthouse is downtown, on the north end of "Million Dollar Row," a series of three compatible civic buildings (jail, city hall and courthouse) constructed in 1929-30. Adjacent to the courthouse on the east are the Gray County Jail (1992) and the Combs-Worley Building (1931). In excellent condition, the courthouse retains its historical and architectural integrity to a high degree.
Each facade of the Gray County Courthouse is divided into bays (five on the north and south; seven on the east and west facades) by paired, brick pilasters which extend from the heavily rusticated Indiana limestone at the base to the architrave. Each pilaster is capped by a stylized Corinthian capital, and the placement of decoration on the parapet echoes the placement of pilasters. The raised basement and part of the first floor walls are sheathed in a heavily rusticated limestone which extends approximately fifteen feet up the facade. Each facade contains an identical, shallow pavilion topped by a taller and more ornate section of parapet featuring bas-relief limestone panels, octagonal limestone medallions and limestone urns. The window openings in each bay of the pavilions are surrounded by limestone segmental arches. A projecting scrolled keystone is located in each arch. The second floor openings in each pavilion are separated from the first floor openings by balustraded, limestone balcony.
The pattern of fenestration and spandrels in the pavilions emphasize the function of each facade. The primary entry on the east facade is emphasized by a heightened vertical effect created by the elimination of spandrel panels between the second and third stories. Above the east entrance is a stylized terra cotta frieze containing the completion date "1929." The other three pavilions are de-emphasized because they retain the spandrel pattern found on other parts of the building.
The third floor openings in non-pavilion bays are square, with soldier-course lintels. All other non-pavilion openings are square, featuring limestone lintels and sills, which are part of the heavily ornamental terra cotta spandrels between the openings on each floor. All windows are a metal casement type, with each section pivoting on a central post. Arched windows in the pavilions feature an arched transom over standard casement windows.
The courthouse features an elaborate entablature composed of a raised, limestone capped, brick parapet with limestone balustrades centered over the outer bays of each facade. A classical limestone cornice tops a limestone frieze with a variety of moldings and paterae. The frieze carries the legend "Gray County Court House" on each side, etched in blue. (The use of the letter "V" was in place of the letter "U," in keeping with Latin-style lettering, caused some concern among locals).
Wainscoting in the halls and foyers is dark red marble, five feet in height. The color scheme is amber, white and cream. The plastered walls are painted a light cream. The shields on the pillars and decorations on the ceilings are stained a rich amber and accentuated by pure white lines of plaster of Paris. Each step of the three main stairways is dark red marble.
All decorative woodwork and furniture was of highest quality oak. Benches were attached to the walls in the halls on the first and third floors. The county courtroom has a seating capacity for 400, with golden oak benches. Carved oak panels, 12 feet high, extend across the width of the courtroom behind the judge’s bench. The floors in the offices are of mastic material, with terrazzo floors in the halls. The elevator formerly serviced the only fourth floor, but now an elevator services all of the floors.
Upon dedication, first floor occupancy included the sheriff's office (now located in the Gray County Jail), the county superintendent’s office (no longer existing), the tax assessor collector's office, an abstractor’s-office and separate restrooms for men, women and African-Americans. The offices are currently occupied by tax and voter registration, juvenile probation, constable, justices of the peace #1 & #2, tax assessor-collector, and tag, and there are public restrooms for men and women.
The second floor originally included the county courtroom, county clerk's office, and offices for the county judge, treasurer, and auditor. Currently, all offices remain except those of the county surveyor and treasurer. The county attorney's office has been added.
The third floor
contained the district court, as well as the district judge's office and
quarters, and room for grand jury meetings, the district attorney's offices,
bailiff's rooms, jury rooms, and the district clerk's office. Now occupying
the area are the district clerks, district judges 31 and 223, non-jury court
room, district attorneys and court reporters rooms. A wall has been built
for the protection of the district judge and jury.
Upon completion of a county jail in 1992, the fourth floor of the courthouse was converted from a jail to office space. Six compartments with a capacity of six prisoners each, were located on the fourth floor, with separate cells originally designated for men, women, African Americans, and juveniles (the jail was later integrated). This floor also contained a jury dorm and jailer’s quarters. In later years, the sheriff occupied an apartment on the west side. At present, the adult probation officers and county treasurer occupy the fourth floor, refurbished in 1995. The east, former jail wing has been partitioned into maintenance and storage areas since 1994. The District Courtroom balcony on the fourth floor, originally equipped with opera seats and brass trim, is now a storage room. The original light fixtures of the courtroom have been replaced by fluorescent lighting that was inappropriately attached over ornate ceiling medallions, which are still intact. Despite these minor changes, the Gray County Courthouse retains its integrity of location, setting, workmanship, materials, design, feeling and association.
The Gray County
Courthouse in Pampa, Texas, stands as an outstanding architectural
achievement, and the seat of county government. It meets Criterion A, in the
area of Politics/Government at the local level, as the seat of county
government. The courthouse became a symbol of the prosperity and
sophistication Gray County enjoyed after the discovery of oil in the 1920s
led to the change from an
Gray County was created in 1876, and named for Peter W. Gray, a soldier, attorney, member of the first Texas Legislature and the House of the Confederate Congress, and Texas Supreme Court Justice. The county is located in the southern portion of the Great Plains, partly situated on the caprock, a hardpan layer a few feet below the ground surface. The county lies within the Llano Estacado or "staked plains," a Spanish name that might have referred to stakes that were placed as markers because the lands were so vast and level.
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Gray County Courthouse
A fine example of a beaux arts courthouse with Georgian ornamentation, this structure was erected after the county seat was moved from Lefors in 1928. The edifice was designed by W. R. Kaufman & Son of Amarillo and built by Harland L. Case & Co. of Pampa. It was dedicated on April 19, 1930. Built upon a foundation of Indiana limestone, the steel frame and many windows give a modern look to the traditional beaux arts style. Kaufman designed Pampa's city hall and fire station in a similar style. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997 |
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Gray County Courthouse 1928 |
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