Woodville's Courthouse Kept Its Tower Through a New Deal Remodel

At 100 W. Bluff St., Woodville has used the same downtown block for county government since 1846. A courthouse was finished there by February 1849. The building on the square today came later, but its location carries the older story: Tyler County set aside this ground when Woodville became the county seat.

In 1890, the commissioners court approved bonds for a new courthouse, with County Judge Henry West presiding over the November decision. Corpus Christi architects Glover and Hodges mixed Second Empire, Gothic, and Mediterranean details into the design. Construction ran into trouble in 1891, but M. A. McKnight and McKnight finished the building early the next year.

A Works Progress Administration remodel from 1935 to 1937 changed what people see now. Crews removed many of the high-style details and built a rear addition, while the original windows and central tower remained. The project left a much plainer exterior than the architects' original mix.

The square holds two architectural eras on an 1846 public block: a Victorian courthouse reshaped by a New Deal project.