Kleberg Avenue Points Straight at the Courthouse

Kleberg Avenue does not simply pass the county courthouse. The historic main street runs toward it and ends at the courthouse square. The 1914 building stands at 700 East Kleberg Avenue, five blocks east of the old railroad depot, in a spot meant to anchor Kingsville's civic life.

The county was only a year old when construction began. Texas architect Atlee B. Ayres designed a three-story courthouse with a raised basement, broad porches, tan brick, and detailed cast-stone ornament. A 1966 addition expanded the building while keeping much of its original look.

That street plan is the part worth noticing from the sidewalk. Kleberg Avenue links the town's commercial center to the square and gives the courthouse room to finish the view. Kingsville was not just growing around a railroad; it was drawing a county seat with a public building at the end of the line.