County Formation and the First Courthouse
Wise County's first courthouse was a wooden frontier
trading post. Daniel Howell located the post on the open prairie as
near as possible to what he believed would be the center of Wise County,
and the most likely site for the future county seat. It was built
near a spring in the vicinity of what is now the corner of Charles
and Hatcher streets in Decatur. An act of the Texas Legislature creating
Wise County in January of 1856 dictated that Howell's building was
to be used as the county courthouse until such time that an election
could be held establishing a permanent county seat. In 1857 the election
was held establishing the county seat as Taylorsville. Howell then
sold the trading post which was moved to middle of the block on the
west side of the Taylorsville town square where it served as a drugstore
for Dr. Thomas Stewart. (Cates, p.47 & p. 74)
The 1857 election establishing the location of the
county seat at Taylorsville was the culmination of a plan conceived
and executed by Colonel Absalom Bishop. Like Daniel Howell, Colonel
Bishop explored the area that would become Wise County in an effort
to determine the most likely location for the county seat. Upon choosing
a suitable site in 1854, Colonel Bishop's first step was to persuade
settler James Proctor to stake his claim there. Bishop's plan was
that Proctor would offer to donate sixty acres of the claim to the
county for use as the new town site. His reward was to be the increased
property value of his lands surrounding the town (Cates, pp. 70-71).
When the votes were tallied, Bishop was shocked to find his plan in
second place. Determined not to fail, Bishop and Howell managed to
find "certain irregularities" in one of the ballot boxes
and the controversial decision was made to throw the box out. The
resulting recount named Taylorsville as the county seat. Numerous
attempts to contest the election failed (Cates, p. 72).
Wise County's name was given in honor of Henry A.
Wise, statesman from Virginia. Colonel Bishop named the new county
seat Taylorsville in honor of Zachary Taylor. Why Bishop moved to
change the name to Decatur in 1858 is unclear. Local legend has it
that Bishop, a staunch Democrat, was distressed at Taylor's conversion
to the Whig party. This seems unlikely as Taylor ran for president
in 1848 as a Whig, and died in 1850, well before the creation of Wise
County . The name was changed by an act of the legislature in January
of 1858 to Decatur in honor of U.S. Admiral Stephen Decatur.
The Next Three Courthouses
The first courthouse to grace the new county seat
of Taylorsville was closely related to Howell's trading post. Henry
Martin settled in the area and built the structure near the store
in the mid 1850s. After the selection of as the county seat, the building
was moved to the northeast corner of the new town square, at the site
of the current county jail, where it served as the courthouse until
1861. It was a 16'x16' square building constructed of hackberry weatherboard,
roofed with two foot clapboards and floored with cottonwood puncheons.
Though small, the courthouse initially provided enough space that
a portion of it was rented to a local merchant for storage.
An act of the state legislature in 1860 or 1861
authorized a vote for a tax to build a new courthouse. Joe Head won
the contract and constructed the building in the middle of the square,
his principal workman being Johnson Miller. The building was constructed
in a design typical of courthouses of the period. The two story wood
structure was 40 by 40 feet with centrally placed entrances on all
four sides. Intersecting corridors on the first floor divided it into
four equal quadrants, each with one office. The second floor was entirely
dedicated to the courtroom. The four facades were identical with wood
clapboard siding, a central, double-doored entrance with a 6 pane
divided light transom on the first floor, flanked by 6 over 6 double
hung windows. On the second floor, directly above these openings,
three equally spaced 6 over 6 double hung windows provided light and
ventilation to the courtroom. Some of the building's windows appear
to have been shuttered. Trim consisted of a simple wood cornice and
wide planks forming corner trim and a horizontal band between the
soffit and third floor windows. The building had a hipped roof which
was penetrated by at least three masonry chimneys. Wise County's first
official courthouse provided ample space for county business with
enough room left over for rental space. Tenants in the building included
lawyers, the town's first photo gallery, and the first newspaper.
The building burned on November 26, 1881.
The county constructed a new two story courthouse
in the Second Empire style in 1883. It met the ground with a minimal
base with each facade arranged in a series of bays; 5 bays on the
front and rear facades, 3 on the sides. Entrances on each facade were
emphasized by the projection of the central bay and were accented
by a shallow bracketed balcony above. The projecting entry of the
main facade continued upward to create a dominant central tower with
a large domed mansard roof with projecting clock dormers on each side.
The remaining three entry bays were topped with ornate pediments flanked
by elaborate chimney tops which projected through the roof just behind
the bracketed cornice line. The roof was constructed with two tiers,
the lower being more steeply pitched than the upper, and was embellished
with roof cresting at the corners and on the top of the tower.
Unfortunately, the fire which destroyed the previous
courthouse did not inspire the county to construct a fire resistant
building. Protection against fire was provided by a guard who watched
the building at night. Before long, the guard seemed unnecessary and
his protection was removed. Wise County's fourth courthouse burned
on the night of January 12, 1895. The fire didn't just destroy the
courthouse, it started a controversy over the location of the county
seat. An election in November of 1885 overwhelmingly reaffirmed Decatur
as the permanent county seat. Ironically, construction of the new
courthouse in the middle of the square began in June, five months
before the election was held.
The commissioners examined designs submitted by
eight architects and on May 10, 1895, ordered that the plan of San
Antonio architect J. Riely Gordon be accepted. He was directed to
develop specifications and details and to superintend the new work
for a fee of 5% of the contract cost. On the 18th of May, J.A. White
was awarded the contract for construction on a bid of $95,000, with
construction to begin before June 1, 1895. On January 1, 1897, the
building was received by the court. Although the building interior
was remodeled in 1960, it retains most of its original character on
the exterior. It continues today to serve its original function.
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