The 1919 Courthouse Marks Live Oak County's Move to George West

Oakville had been Live Oak County's seat since the county organized in 1856. The railroad bypassed Oakville in 1913, and the seat relocated to George West in 1919. The courthouse at 301 Houston Street was constructed that same year. The civic move still has a building attached to it.

Architect Alfred Giles gave the courthouse its Classical Revival design, and Bashear Construction Company built it. Multicolored red and brown brick meets cast stone, a dentiled cornice, and a double-height entry portico supported by Corinthian columns. Those details give the working county office a formal public front.

The building was renovated in 1985 and remains the active county courthouse. It is also a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. County business still happens inside the building raised when the county's center shifted from stage-road Oakville to railroad-era George West.