When county commissioners solicited plans and specifications in June 1891 for a new courthouse, as many as fifteen architects from as far as St. Louis responded. Gordon and Laub of San Antonio received the commission. This is one of J. Riely Gordon’s early courthouses with a typical cross-axial plan and before his signature plan of corner entrances matured. All four sides of the three-story Romanesque Revival courthouse are similar, and a tall square tower crowns the building. The bold contrast of local white limestone walls with Pecos red sandstone arches, window frames, cornices, and stringcourses reverses the normal tonality of Gordon’s work, which tended to exhibit darker walls and lighter trim. A budget significantly less than for his other courthouses is reflected in the absence of ornamentation. The courthouse was rehabilitated in 2002 with funding from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.