Two courthouses preceded the present building: the first of 1886 was by Alfred Giles, and the second of 1917 by Trost and Trost was similar to their scheme for El Paso High School (EP35). With the second courthouse still in operation, this thirteen-story, blue reflective glass building was placed behind it. When completed, the 1917 courthouse was demolished, and a new red brick entrance pavilion was constructed on the site. The courthouse is an example of late postmodernism, lacking materiality in its details. A uniform grid of thin black mullions covers the taught blue box, giving no hint of floor levels that might imbue the facade with a measure of scale. In contrast, the brick entrance pavilion is more assertive, with a barrel-vault shape that forms an exaggerated Alamo-scroll facade. The brickwork that wraps the lower three floors of the blue box imitates a podium and features circular windows. Artist Carlos Callejo’s mural Our History (1995) is installed in the lobby of the courthouse.