This was our thirtieth Courthouse in Texas to visit. That means we are at 11.8% of our goal with 88.2% left to go. We were very impressed with the grace and beauty of this courthouse. Unfortunately, someone does not have the same respect we do and decided a duct tape encrusted PVC pipe would be a worthy addition to the third floor exterior. Couldn’t they have at least painted it to match the building color?

The first known inhabitants of Wise County were probably Wichita Indians. When the Coronado expedition came through the area of present Decatur in 1540, there were several Indian villages between the Trinity and Red rivers. The history of white settlement in Wise County began with Sam Woody who moved to Deep Creek in 1854, and his original log cab remains as a historic site today in what is now Cooke County.

Wise County was officially established by The Texas Legislature on January 23, 1856 with land drawn mostly from Cooke County, and was named in honor of Henry A. Wise, a United States Congressman from Virginia who had supported the annexation of Texas. The location of the county seat of Wise County was selected by a county election and, although the town was originally named Taylorsville early town pioneer Colonel Absolam Bishop petitioned to change the town’s name to Decatur after becoming disappointed with President Zachary Taylor. Decatur remains the seat of Wise County government to the present.