Galveston County’s first courthouse was an humble but sturdy wood frame structure located on the extreme east end of the Island in a settlement called Saccarap, where UTMB is now located.  It was once the Mexican customhouse and had been the only building on the Island to survive a devastating hurricane in October 1837. After the storm, the developer of Saccarap, Colonel Amasa Turner, moved the old customhouse from its original site to Avenue A.  Turner remodeled it into a more substantial dwelling, and it served not only as the county’s courthouse but also Turner’s home.  The first term of county court was held in this building on August 27, 1838, with Chief Justice Fenton M. Gibson presiding, although there were no cases filed and heard before the court until October 22, 1838.  Gibson was subsequently appointed Judge of the District Court, and the first session of the District Court was held on the third Monday of October, 1839.  There was only one term of the District Court, during which four cases were heard.  Gibson was shortly succeeded by E. W. Cullen, and Gibson went on to serve in the ill-fated Mier Expedition.

The county’s first formal jail facility consisted of the grounded remains of the German brig Elbe.  The Elbe had been swept ashore near 29th Street during the hurricane of 1839, and the stranded vessel was initially used as a hotel.  After Turner built the nine bedroom Galveston Hotel in the spring of 1838, the Elbe was converted into a jail facility.  Within a couple of years, the vessel fell into disrepair, and a frame building was built at 20th and Winnie to serve as the county’s jail until it was replaced in 1848.



Desiring a more substantial courthouse that reflected Galveston’s growing importance to the newly formed state, the county next erected in 1847-48 one of the most durable and sophisticated courthouse and jail facilities erected in Texas prior to the Civil War.  [Figure 1.]  With exterior walls made of molded brick, the building incorporated Gothic Revival details such as buttresses and fenestration in the Tudor style.  The building was also distinguished by its window hoods, parapet, and low octagonal tower on the front elevation facing 20th Street.  The architect was Charles G. Bryant (1803-1850), a masterbuilder who emigrated to Texas from Maine in 1839.  Jail cells with granite floors were located on the ground floor and in the tower, and on the second floor was located the courtroom.  The courthouse was located on the southeast corner of what is now Winnie and 20th Street.



As Galveston continued to grow significantly during the next decade, it was clear a larger courthouse was required.  Little is known about the courthouse completed in 1857 and built just south of the prior courthouse.  A bird’s eye map of Galveston in 1871 shows a gable-front, two-story building reflecting the Classical Revival style popular in the United States prior to the Civil War.  [Figure 2, right image]  It is also evident that the older courthouse continued to be used as a jail facility.  [Figure 2, left image]  In 1875, Nicholas Clayton, who would later become the Texas’ pre-eminent 19th Century architect, made alterations and additions to the existing facility, expanding it and installing a new vault.  Problems with moisture and an inability to completely seal the vault resulted in criticism of Clayton’s work.

In 1878, the county solicited bids for a new jail facility to replace the one built in 1848.  Three architects submitted plans:  Nathaniel Tobey, Eugene Heiner and Clayton.  Heiner had moved to Texas in 1876 and designed numerous important private and public buildings throughout the state and was known particularly for his “scientific” designs for jails.  Heiner was awarded the commission and designed the facility in the French Second Empire Style popular in the mid-1870’s.  [Figure 3, left]  The substantial two-and-one-half-story building was distinguished by its massive mansard roof and was situated on the site of the previous jail at 20th and Winnie.  Heiner would later design the Leon and H. Blum Building (now Tremont House) and Stewart Title Building, among others.


Despite Clayton’s alterations, it again became clear that a larger courthouse was needed.  Clayton had developed plans for remodeling the courthouse in the Second Empire style.  However, perhaps because of the county’s disenchantment with Clayton’s alterations and their satisfaction with Heiner’s design and work on the new jail facility, Heiner actually did the work in 1881-82.  Heiner essentially added a third floor to the 1857 building and refaced it. [Figure 3, right] The result was an oddly proportioned building with irregular spacing of windows that no doubt was necessitated by the constraints imposed by the existing building.  Furthermore, instead of brick and stone for exterior wall surfaces, Heiner used rusticated stucco (brick covered with stucco and scored to look like stone), a cheaper option.  The entrance was emphasized by a pavilion, surmounted by a classical triangular pediment and convex Mansard roof.  A broad cornice, high chimneys, delicate roof cresting, and window hoods, with designs that varied at each floor, provided stylistic distinction.  

Sadly, the courthouse gradually fell into disrepair and had become much maligned.  On December 16, 1896, a fire of unknown origin destroyed the entire courthouse.


Galveston County quickly solicited bids for the construction of a larger and grander courthouse than the previous.  An invitation for plans and specifications was published nationally in American Architect and Building News. Nineteen architects, including Clayton, responded to the invitation.  Clayton won the first round, receiving the commission in March 1897 as the lowest bidder.  Clayton soon prepared construction drawings and solicited bids in early April, after which the commissioners court required that his estimate hold firm and that he guarantee his estimate with a $25,000 bond.  They further insisted that Clayton was bound to construct the building for the initial estimate, regardless of how much the construction bids exceeded that estimate.  Clayton balked, litigation was threatened, and Clayton’s plans were rejected.

A second competition was held and only seven architects submitted bids. Two weeks later, Clayton was again awarded the commission, provided he post the required bond.  After doing so, Clayton left town and left his assistant to conclude consultations with the commissioners.  Soon, one of the commissioners accused the assistant of altering the specifications without the commissioner’s approval.  Accusations of conspiracy and deceit were hurled among the commissioners.  A panel of experts was hired to look at the plans and specifications to resolve the issue.  Clayton was so incensed at the court’s conduct that, through his lawyers, he rebuked the commissioners.  Offended, the commissioners ruled that Clayton had indeed breached his contract, his bond was forfeited, and his plans again rejected.  Clayton would eventually sue the county, lose, and appeal that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.  Despite being represented by former Governor James Hogg, the Supreme Court sustained the district court’s ruling in 1900.  Clayton dissolved his company, and his career would never recover.

The commission was awarded the final time to Messer, Sanguinet, and Messer of Fort Worth, who had contributed $5,000 to the commissioner who denounced Clayton.   They designed an imposing Beaux Art style building with many Renaissance Revival details.  The courthouse was constructed of brick, granite, and terra cotta work.  However, without a dome, tower, or other picturesque features, and with restrained ornamentation, the design was relatively plain.  A shaft penetrated the center of the courthouse providing light and ventilation to county offices on the first floor and various courtrooms on the upper two floors.  The space contained a stairway with decorative iron.  The bridge across the space in the upper floors had marble tiles of contrasting color.  The new courthouse was dedicated on April 21, 1899.  

Contemporaneous with the building of its new courthouse, the county also built a new jail facility at 1628 Avenue A.  The First Court of Appeals then moved into the former 1878 jail.  Another jail facility was constructed at the same location on Avenue A to replace the former jail in 1913.
    

The 1899 courthouse suffered significant damage in a tornado spawned by Hurricane Carla in September 1961.  Veteran courthouse officials, in particular County Judge Pete Lavalle, felt that the courthouse had outgrown its usefulness.  Additionally, the building had a vast amount of unusable space and was a “virtual fire trap” that would require $600,000 to repair and rehabilitate.  With support from the Galveston County Bar, a spirited campaign was waged to engender support for the issuance of bonds to build a new courthouse.  On December 8, 1962, voters approved the issuance of bonds worth $2,995,000 for the courthouse.  Ground was broken on December 9, 1963, after Raymond R. Rapp, Jr., & Associates was chosen as lead architects and W. R. Grimshaw Construction Co. of Houston as general contractor.  The building is distinguished by its heavily patterned facades, reflecting a trend in the early 1960’s for use of applied decorative features.  The white pre-cast concrete forms create an intricate façade pattern emphasized by deep shadows.  Although county officials and employees began occupying the building by the fall of 1965, the building was formally dedicated by Governor John Connally on April 19, 1966.  

Similarly, the construction of a new jail facility and courthouse annex had been put before the voters in a bond election that was approved by the electorate in September 1959.  That jail facility and annex was completed in 1962.    

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