Titus County, Texas History - History of the Titus County Court House

Since there was no running water and no city sewer system when the Titus County Court House was built in 1897, restrooms, which were originally privies, had to be located outside of the main court house. In addition to lack of easy public restroom access in the Court House, lack of public restrooms had been a problem for local merchants for years. The problem was even worse on Saturdays when the downtown business district was packed with tourists and lady shoppers.

On Tuesday, May 12, 1936, Titus County Commissioners awarded local builder P. T. Wray a $1,423.45 contract to erect a two story brick annex building on the west side of the court house.

The lower floor of the 16 x 22 foot building was designed as a ladies restroom and lounge for use by both white and Negro ladies, with a partition separating the white and colored sides. White ladies entered on the northwest corner of the building into a comfortably furnished eight by sixteen foot lounge room that provided ladies with a nice place to rest while shopping. Two other rooms adjoining the lounge contained a lavatory and a toilet, and were built so that they could easily be kept clean. Negro ladies entered on the building's south side into an area with a toilet and lavatory.

The second floor of the annex was a combination jury room and court reporter's office. Until the annex was built, a bailiff had to accompany the jury to and from the Titus County Jail, where they held their deliberations.

The District Court room's jury box was moved to the west side of the room, a window was removed from the west side of the main court house building and a door was installed, and an iron stairway was built to connect the second floor of the new annex to the court room. When a case was given to the jury, they then simply had to walk out the door and down the stairs to the jury room, which was nicely furnished and offered complete privacy for their deliberations.

When juries were not using the room, it served as an office for the court reporter.

The restroom/jury room annex building is the small building visible in the left photo above.

In 1940, the court house underwent a major remodel. The clock tower was removed, a third floor added, and restrooms with flushing toilets were constructed in the basement of the main court house. The court house's entire exterior was covered with stucco and its appearance was changed to the art deco look.

As a sidelight to history, people who watched the remodel said that O. L. Crigler, who remodeled the court house and built many of Mt. Pleasant's buildings and streets, jacked up the four-year-old restroom building, slid pipes under it, and rolled the two-story building down East First Street and across the railroad tracks. He set up the building again facing north at what is now 212 East First Street, on the southwest corner of East First Street and South Lee Street.

After being set up at its new East First Street location, the restroom building was remodeled and an addition was added to its west side. Over the years it has housed various residences and small businesses and is still in use today.

The court house in its original form lacked the modern conveniences that we now take for granted. We don't know when the court house received electric lights, but it was probably originally lit by a combination of natural lights coming through the windows and kerosene lamps. According to R.L. Jurney in his book History of Titus County 1846-1960, J.A. Davis swapped a belt from the cotton gin onto a generator at the end of the day's work to produce the first electricity in Mt. Pleasant. Since the gin ran during the day, it is unlikely that the court house could depend on electricity for lighting.

There were no restrooms inside the court house. The restrooms, which were actually large outhouses due to Mt. Pleasant's lack of running water and a sewer system, were located in a two story brick building immediately adjacent to the court house.

The court house was heated by wood stoves, which were used until 1936. The stoves required burning between 150 and 200 cords of wood per season to heat the building. In August, 1935, and possibly earlier, the County Commissioners Court gave orders that all prisoners confined in the county jail that could or would not pay their fines be placed on work gangs to cut wood for the court house. County Judge McElroy stated that unless they paid their fines, every person confined to jail for non-payment of fines and everyone who had been released but still had old fines outstanding must serve time on the woodcutting gangs. Each prisoner would be allowed a certain amount of credit against his fine for each day they worked until they worked out the entire amount owed. The county had secured a supply of timber on the Luther Poole farm about six miles south of Mt. Pleasant, and work crews were carried there in a school bus each morning and returned and confined in the jail overnight when the day's work was over.

There was no air conditioning, and the only ventilation available would have had to have come from hand fans and breezes flowing through open windows until electricity became available. Even then, only ceiling fans could be used to cool the building.

Streets around the court house were dirt and horses were the main mode of transportation. The court house was surrounded by a fence to keep the animals off of the grounds. There was a well, watering trough, and hitching rack on the north side of the square where riders could tie and water their animals. A gazebo on the north side of the square served both as a bandstand for the municipal band and a place for political candidates to give speeches.

This changed in December, 1914, when the Bert Hahn Construction Company was awarded a contract to pave eight blocks of Mt. Pleasant with asphalt. Among the first streets paved were the four blocks around the court house square. Paving was completed in the fall of 1915 under the supervision of O. L. Crigler who moved to Mt. Pleasant to oversee the job. The new all-weather surfaces caused Mt. Pleasant citizens and city leaders to become interested in paving other streets.

In their October 8, 1929 meeting, the Titus County Commissioner's Court voted to pay off the last bond on the court house construction. The court house remained more or less the same for many years, with minor updates to reflect the changing times. Electric lighting was installed after electricity became readily available in Mt. Pleasant. In October of 1936, natural gas heating was installed to replace the wood burning stoves. As fate would have it, court house employees were caught without heat during the change-over. The season's first Norther struck this area after the wood stoves had been removed, but before they could be replaced by new natural gas heaters.

By 1939, the court house was in serious need of repairs and county government had grown until they were out of space. There was discussion of building a new court house, which would require the county to issue $160,000 in bonds. Commissioners put the bond issue up for public vote on Saturday, April 1, 1939, but Titus County voters soundly defeated the bond issue by almost 5 against to 1 for. In the City of Mt. Pleasant alone, the vote was 143 for and 675 against issuing the bonds. In Winfield, the vote was 14 for, 72 against.

Rather than building a new court house, the Commissioners decided to remodel and repair the existing one. O. L. Crigler, who had opened his own construction company and had had a good reputation after erecting many large structures in the area, was awarded the contract. Beginning on Wednesday, February 7, 1940 he began removing the clock tower in preparation to add a third floor to the building. Interior woodwork was removed and interior walls were rearranged. The earlier stairs were changed from a direct, steep, angle to have a gentler slope with landings. A display case was constructed under the stairwell near the north entry to house the bell removed from the 1897 clock tower, and it was displayed there until 2003. The wooden exterior doors and windows were replaced with metal ones, and new wooden doors were installed inside. The building's interior was covered with plaster, and with the exception of the wooden interior doors was fireproof. Indoor restrooms with flush toilets were added, and the two story brick building that had previously served as the court house restrooms was moved to what is now 212 East First Street, where it was remodeled into a commercial building. As part of the 1940 remodel, the exterior walls were covered with stucco and four large electric clocks were installed on the exterior to replace the ones removed when the clock tower was removed to add the third floor. Parking lots surrounding the court house were paved with concrete.

The court house's new 1940 deco appearance remained the same until it was again remodeled in the early 1960s. In February, 1961, the Commissioners Court appointed 25 citizens to a committee to study the court house. Architect Louis B. Gohmert of Mt. Pleasant drew plans to cover the outside of the court house with battleship gray metal panels separated by dull silver uprights. The perforated metal covering completely hid the windows from outside view, making the side of the court house appear smooth.

In May, 1961, the Court approved issuing $100,000 in warrants to remodel the court house, and in March, 1962 hired Grogan Supply Company of Atlanta, Texas doing business as Newman Construction to begin the remodeling. Grogan Supply Company also operated a retail lumber yard located on East Eleventh Street in Mt. Pleasant at the time. When construction was finished, air flow was restricted through the court house and the county purchased window air conditioning units for each office.

The gray and silver metal appearance looked modern in the 1960s, but as historical preservation became more prevalent and public tastes changed the Titus County Court House was given the dubious award of "Ugliest Court House in Texas" by several in the media from across Texas.

By 1990 the court house had again become too small for growing county offices and its shiny metal appearance didn't fit well with the city's Main Street project. To relieve problems caused by lack of space, the Commissioners purchased a large building on the south side of the square which had been vacated when Guaranty Bond Bank moved into their new facility on Arkansas Street. The former bank building was remodeled for use as the Titus County Court House Annex. The Court House Annex provided additional room for the Titus County Tax Assessor-Collector's tax collection and automobile registration offices. It also provided space for modern district court rooms and office space for the district attorney, district judges, district clerk, court reporters, and juvenile probation officers. The Court House Annex, unlike the main court house, was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and permitted people who must use wheel chairs to access the services contained in it. A parking lot in the rear of the Annex provides additional parking space for employees and visitors.

Mt. Pleasant was designated as a Texas Main Street City. The Texas Main Street project is an economic development program which is designed to attract tourists and customers to downtown business districts by preserving and promoting the historic look of downtown areas. Merchants could apply for low interest, long term capital improvement loans to return their buildings to their former historic look and upgrade their facilities at the same time. The Texas Main Street project is overseen by the state and local city governments under the direction of a Main Street Coordinator.

In January, 1991, the Commissioners also approved architect Kent Harris' plans to return the court house to its 1940 appearance. They awarded Clark Construction Company of Clarksville, Texas a $714,000 bid to perform the work, and all county offices were moved to the new Court House Annex while the court house was remodeled. Remodeling began in late February and was completed in the late summer of 1991. During the 1990 remodel, an elevator was added to bring the court house into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and a wheelchair accessible entrance was created on the west side. The gray metal skin and stucco under it was removed from the exterior and a new coat was applied. New windows and doors were installed, and central heat and air conditioning systems replaced the window units. The entire interior was refurbished and rewired.

The Titus County Court House is located at 100 West First Street in the center of Mt. Pleasant's business district, and was used as the center of the original city limits when Mt. Pleasant was incorporated in 1900. The land where the Titus County Court House stands was deeded for the purpose by pioneer Mt. Pleasant businessman Elam Riddle.

The current court house is Titus County's fourth. According to R. L. Jurney, the first courthouse was constructed of logs on the northeast corner of the square. In 1859, it was replaced by a two story brick courthouse which collapsed either during or shortly after the Civil War. The first brick court house was replaced by the one shown above, which was destroyed by fire of suspicious origin in 1895 along with all of the County's records.

Left without a court house, the Commissioner's Court met in an opera house on the second floor of the I.N. Williams building on the east side of the square until they could build another one. In a November, 1895 called meeting, the Titus County Commissioner's Court awarded the J.A. Wilson & Company a $21,240.00 bid to build Titus County's new court house.

Construction on the current court house was completed in 1896. However, the court house didn't look anything like it does today. The original 1896 court house was an attractive two story brick building topped by an ornate clock tower that contained four clocks, one facing each side of the square.