Cooke County Courthouse

County Courthouse, which opened for business in 1912.

The Commissioners Court minutes reveal a great deal about the

development of the Cooke County Courthouse over the years. On

November 11, 1911 the Commissioners’ Court hired a janitor for $80

per month, giving him specific instructions for his cleaning, including

keeping a "good and sufficient number of spittoons in all rooms and

hallways, corridors, and at entrance steps. . .in a clean and sanitary

condition." The current courthouse apparently opened to the the

public in the latter half of December 1911. The December 19, 1911

edition of Gainesville’s Semi-Weekly Register reported that "It rained.

It sleeted. It snowed. For a while it did all three at once and furnished

a regular Duke’s mixture of precipitation." The new courthouse took

on a more complete look when the court voted in March 1912 "to erect

ornamental light posts at each corner of the courthouse yard and then in

April voted to have the yard set with grass."

During WWI, the Court voted to secure a U.S. flag and "have the

same placed at once on the dome of the Courthouse in recognition of the

county’s allegiance to the national government." By 1924, the war was

long over and the county was in the midst of ‘the Roaring Twenties.’ In

June, Carey C. Shell, Jr. was given permission by the Commissioners Court

to "erect a bandstand on the northwest corner of the Courthouse square. It

was to be an octagonal stand 28 x 28, five feet high with four light posts."

In the following year, the courthouse entered the modern era. Previously

heated by coal, the Commissioners Court now apparently changed the

method of heating by "approving a bid of the Gainesville Gas Company to

furnish gas for heating the courthouse."

By the 1930s and 1940s, the courthouse was just old enough to begin

to require repairs and upkeep. In 1938, in connection with action on repairs

to the Courthouse clock, the Court also

"voted to paint the dome and not to exceed $40, to paint the

clock dials, not to exceed $40 and add a flashing clock dial

not to exceed $10."

In 1942, the Commissioners Court voted to provide that "the vault in the

basement where records are kept be repaired to where it can be locked

during work hours and that one key be provided to be kept by the

sheriff and his successors." Then, in 1943, the Court voted to have the

County Judge make the following permanent improvements in the Ladies

Restroom: 1) "inlaid linoleum, 2) the room to be painted, 3) a dressing

table with appropriate chairs be placed in the restroom, and 4) a maid be

employed on each Saturday to stay in the restroom at a salary not to exceed

$2.50 per day." As a result of the "unsanitary condition of the restroom",

the Court declared an emergency and passed the motion without delay.

Today, the courthouse continues to be maintained and the county

is very proud of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Morton Museum of Cooke County