While today Bosque County is known as the Norwegian capital of Texas, many are surprised to discover the Spanish roots of one of the oldest Texas courthouse structures in continuous use.
A 1721 expedition by Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, a Spaniard who established many missions in Texas, was the first recorded traveler in the area known today as Bosque County.
On one trip from San Antonio de Béxar to East Texas, he diverted from the regular route and wandered north, where he camped near the Brazos river and a major tributary. He named that tributary Bosque, the Spanish word meaning woods, or forest.
Left Constructed in 1886, the courthouse, built in Victorian Gothic style, was reconstructed from 2005 to 2007, returning the building to its original design, including the reconstruction of the signature roof, corner turrets and bell tower Right The structural steel and ornamental sheet metal for the new clock tower and corner cupolas were fabricated in Paris, Texas.
Although settlement began in 1825, the county wasn’t officially formed until nearly 30 years later, when officials settled on Bosque as the county’s name and Meridian as the county seat and future location of its proud centerpiece, the 1886 Bosque County Courthouse.
This stately three-story lime- stone building, designed in high Victorian Gothic Revival style with an off-center Italianate clock tower and corner turrets, was restored through the THC’s Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP) in 2007. The county was awarded a $3.5 million grant as part of the THCPP’s fourth round of preservation grants for historic courthouses.
Fifteen years later, the restoration is considered one of the most dramatic in the program’s history due to the severity of previous makeover attempts.
In 1934, the county renovated the courthouse into what was considered to be a modern building for the time, removing many of its Victorian Gothic Revival features, including the clock tower and entire roof structure. Steel windows replaced wood windows, and a small one-story edifice was added to the west facade. A flat concrete roof and cast stone parapet incorporating a single clock face completed the remodel.
By the 1970s, a contemporary lowered ceiling reduced the two-story district courtroom to half its original height and lowered the ceilings in most spaces to accommodate mechanical and electrical installations.
With so many changes over the years, the 2005-07 restoration proved challenging. Reconstruction of the original clock tower and the four corner roof turrets was the most dramatic change accomplished. These large elements were fabricated in Paris, Texas, trucked to Meridian and craned into position with hundreds watching.
Completing the restoration, historic reproduction wood windows and entry doors were installed; the district courtroom, halls and public spaces were reopened to their full height; the original concrete floors rehabilitated; and wood wainscot paneling reconstructed.
Today, the original Victorian beauty of the Bosque County Courthouse has been reclaimed, along with 69 other fully restored courthouses across the state.
