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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » Central Texas » Navasota to Salado » Belton (Bell County) » Bell County Courthouse

Bell County Courthouse

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1885, Jasper N. Preston and Son; 1999 rehabilitation, TWC Architects. 101 E. Central Ave.
  • (Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )
  • (Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )

Imposing in mass and appearance, the Renaissance Revival courthouse is three stories in height and constructed of a golden-hued stone from a local quarry. Buildings around the courthouse square use the same stone, creating a harmonious precinct. The four elevations consist of five elements. The central feature, an entrance pavilion, rises from a one-story base of rusticated stone with a portico above supported by Ionic columns. On each side are flanking bays terminated at each corner by a projecting pavilion. The courthouse is dominated by a central tower, 125 feet high, terminated by a statue of Justice. The tower is supported on a wide base and surrounded by a colonnade with fluted columns and carved capitals. The 1999 rehabilitation reconstructed the tower and roofs that were removed in a remodeling in the 1930s.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Bell County Historical Museum (Carnegie Library)
Miller-Curtis House
St. Francis Episcopal Church
Ralph and Sunny Wilson House
Thomson Grocery Company Building

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Bell County Courthouse", [Belton, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-NS27.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 119-119.

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