Hopkins County's first seat faded; its clockless courthouse did not

Texas created Hopkins County in 1846, and Tarrant became its first county seat. Boundary changes later shifted county government to Sulphur Springs. Tarrant dwindled, but its name still survives in the county's origin story.

Sulphur Springs lost its third courthouse to a fire on February 11, 1894. The replacement went on a corner facing the public square, an unusual choice for a Texas courthouse. Architect J. Riely Gordon gave it red granite, sandstone trim, round porches, and a tall Romanesque profile.

The building was finished on August 22, 1895, for $75,000.

Residents asked for a clock in the tower; county commissioners declined to pay for one. More than a century later, that missing clock is still a fine small courthouse story.