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Victoria County Courthouse

The period between 1890 and 1910 is known as the "Golden Age" of Texas courthouse architecture. During this period many courthouses were built in Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival, French Second Empire, and Renaissance Revival. You could lump them all into the more commonly called "Victorian Period" architecture.

This courthouse in Victoria, Texas was designed by famed architect J. Riely Gordon. Gordon designed 16 county courthouses during this period, 12 still remain standing.

In 2011 I visited Anderson, Texas with a fellow photographer just going to photograph whatever we found. I found this neat old Grimes County courthouse built in 1893. I soon started photographing county courthouses. At first I was only going to photograph the ones around Houston, where I live. That did not satisfy me. I decided to photograph all 254 Texas county courthouses. It took four years and 34,600 miles driven. All of my photographs I have donated to the Texas Historical Commission in Austin, TX. They now have a photographic record of every courthouse in Texas.

https://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TexasCourthouses

The above link is to all 254 county courthouses. I have photographed the exterior as well as most of the interior of the ones I could get inside.

What does Romanesque Revival look like? arched windows, arched doorways, circular towers. If it looks like a castle, it's probably Romanesque revival.

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