Four Cupolas Ring the Gonzales Courthouse Tower

The courthouse block sits between St. Louis, St. Paul, St. Lawrence, and St. Joseph streets. Gonzales County organized in 1837, and an earlier courthouse burned on December 3, 1893. Work on its replacement began in 1894; the building was completed by 1896 at a recorded cost of $64,450. The 1887 Old Jail remains part of the historic courthouse site.

Architect J. Riely Gordon gave the replacement its Romanesque Revival design. Red pressed brick, a red clay-tile roof, and contrasting limestone make the courthouse easy to pick out from the square. The pale stone sets off both the brick walls and roof.

The plan crosses two main axes and opens through four corner porticos. Four miniature domed cupolas gather around the central pyramidal tower, repeating the four-sided shape at a smaller scale.

The courthouse received a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation in 1966. It is also a State Antiquities Landmark, a National Register-listed place, and public county property. The 1893 fire explains the building's date; the ring of cupolas gives the replacement its silhouette.