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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » South Central Texas » Castroville to Jourdanton » Hondo (Medina County) » Medina County Courthouse

Medina County Courthouse

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1893, Martin, Byrnes and Johnston, builders; 1942 additions, Joseph Palle. Ave. M at 16th St.

This Italianate courthouse is similar to the same firm's Throckmorton County courthouse in Throckmorton, Texas, built two years earlier. The tower, removed in 1942, was a duplicate of the Goliad County Courthouse tower ( GB1), designed by Henri E. M. Guidon and built by Martin, Byrnes and Johnston, who were known for reusing designs created for other projects.

The courthouse is constructed of large blocks of rock-faced limestone. The smooth-faced window lintels of the original central section are decorated with incised Eastlake floral carvings, a most unusual touch for a building in Texas. Although it lost its original central tower and was enlarged with two flanking wings in 1942, the courthouse is still an imposing edifice, thanks to the fact that the builders of the additions chose to nearly duplicate the detailing of the original design.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
J. M. Koch Hotel
Schuehle-Saathoff House

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Medina County Courthouse", [Hondo, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-CJ13.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 223-223.

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