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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » Central Texas » Waco to Tehuacana » Waco and Vicinity (Mclennan County) » McLennan County Courthouse

McLennan County Courthouse

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1901, J. Riely Gordon with Wesley C. Dodson. 501 Washington Ave.
  • (Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )
  • (The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

The courthouse ranks among Gordon's best work, illustrating the range of his talent in this shift from his earlier Romanesque mode to a full-blown classicism. The Beaux-Arts building commands a full block and is executed in white limestone with metal cornices and dome painted to look like stone. The vertical proportions are given a wonderful airiness by the fluttering wings of the large eagles around the dome. Unlike many Texas county courthouses, the McLennan Courthouse is not situated in a public square surrounded by the town's commercial district. Instead, it fronts one of the several main commercial streets of downtown Waco, with a grand staircase that ascends the sloped site.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Amicable Life Insurance Company Building (ALICO)
Regis Hotel (Hilton Hotel)
Memorial Masonic Grand Lodge Temple
Waco Hippodrome Theater
Office Building (Raleigh Hotel)

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "McLennan County Courthouse", [Waco, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-WT1.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 122-122.

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