This was our seventy-eighth Courthouse in Texas to visit. That means we are at 30.7% of our goal with 69.3% left to go.
Jasper County was one of the original twenty-three counties created when the Republic of Texas was established in 1836 following the Texas Revolution. Bevil settlement, established by pioneer John Bevil about 1824, became the seat of government and was renamed Jasper in 1835 in honor of American Revolutionary War hero William Jasper.
The first county courthouse on this site, a two-room log structure, was destroyed by fire in 1849. It was replaced by a two-story building, completed about 1854.
The present courthouse, constructed of locally made red brick, was completed in 1889. One year later a tower with a four-sided clock and bell was added. Additional wings were built onto the east and west sides of the structure in 1931, and the entire courthouse was covered with stucco. An adjacent office building was erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940, and the courthouse clock tower was removed in a 1957 remodeling project.
The Courthouse Square, with its official buildings and landscaped grounds, continues to be a focal point of Jasper County activities.
