Gray County Historical Markers Gray County Historical Markers
Page 3
Gray County Courthouse, Pampa
(National Register Listing)
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Gray County Courthouse,
Pampa
Address: 205 N. Russell
The Gray County Courthouse (1929) in the panhandle city of Pampa,
Texas, is a four-story, steel frame Beaux Arts building with a
raised basement and flat roof. The curtain walls are sheathed in
a veneer of Indiana limestone and buff brick, with large pivoted
windows. The rectangular building is 90 feet wide on the
east-west axis, and 125 feet long on the north-south axis, and
features a central plan, with entrances on the north, east and
south sides. The west interior features a grand staircase in
place of a west entrance, but the fenestration and ornamentation
patterns are consistent with that on the other facades. Shallow
pavilions project from each side of the building. The courthouse
is downtown, on the north end of "Million Dollar Row,"
a series of three compatible civic buildings (jail, city hall and
courthouse) constructed in 1929-30. Adjacent to the courthouse on
the east are the Gray County Jail (1992) and the Combs-Worley
Building (1931). In excellent condition, the courthouse retains
its historical and architectural integrity to a high degree.
Each facade of the Gray County Courthouse is divided into bays
(five on the north and south; seven on the east and west facades)
by paired, brick pilasters which extend from the heavily
rusticated Indiana limestone at the base to the architrave. Each
pilaster is capped by a stylized Corinthian capital, and the
placement of decoration on the parapet echoes the placement of
pilasters. The raised basement and part of the first floor walls
are sheathed in a heavily rusticated limestone which extends
approximately fifteen feet up the facade. Each facade contains an
identical, shallow pavilion topped by a taller and more ornate
section of parapet featuring bas-relief limestone panels,
octagonal limestone medallions and limestone urns. The window
openings in each bay of the pavilions are surrounded by limestone
segmental arches. A projecting scrolled keystone is located in
each arch. The second floor openings in each pavilion are
separated from the first floor openings by balustraded, limestone
balcony.
The pattern of fenestration and spandrels in the pavilions
emphasize the function of each facade. The primary entry on the
east facade is emphasized by a heightened vertical effect created
by the elimination of spandrel panels between the second and
third stories. Above the east entrance is a stylized terra cotta
frieze containing the completion date "1929." The other
three pavilions are de-emphasized because they retain the
spandrel pattern found on other parts of the building.
The third floor openings in non-pavilion bays are square, with
soldier-course lintels. All other non-pavilion openings are
square, featuring limestone lintels and sills, which are part of
the heavily ornamental terra cotta spandrels between the openings
on each floor. All windows are a metal casement type, with each
section pivoting on a central post. Arched windows in the
pavilions feature an arched transom over standard casement
windows.
The courthouse features an elaborate
entablature composed of a raised, limestone capped, brick parapet
with limestone balustrades centered over the outer bays of each
facade. A classical limestone cornice tops a limestone frieze
with a variety of moldings and paterae. The frieze carries the
legend "Gray County Court House" on each side, etched
in blue. (The use of the letter "V" was in place of the
letter "U," in keeping with Latin-style lettering,
caused some concern among locals).
Wainscoting in the halls and foyers is dark red marble, five feet
in height. The color scheme is amber, white and cream. The
plastered walls are painted a light cream. The shields on the
pillars and decorations on the ceilings are stained a rich amber
and accentuated by pure white lines of plaster of Paris. Each
step of the three main stairways is dark red marble.
All decorative woodwork and furniture was of highest quality oak.
Benches were attached to the walls in the halls on the first and
third floors. The county courtroom has a seating capacity for
400, with golden oak benches. Carved oak panels, 12 feet high,
extend across the width of the courtroom behind the judge’s
bench. The floors in the offices are of mastic material, with
terrazzo floors in the halls. The elevator formerly serviced the
only fourth floor, but now an elevator services all of the
floors.
Upon dedication, first floor occupancy included the sheriff's
office (now located in the Gray County Jail), the county
superintendent’s office (no longer existing), the tax
assessor collector's office, an abstractor’s-office and
separate restrooms for men, women and African-Americans. The
offices are currently occupied by tax and voter registration,
juvenile probation, constable, justices of the peace #1 & #2,
tax assessor-collector, and tag, and there are public restrooms
for men and women.
The second floor originally included the county courtroom, county
clerk's office, and offices for the county judge, treasurer, and
auditor. Currently, all offices remain except those of the county
surveyor and treasurer. The county attorney's office has been
added.
The third floor contained the district court, as well as the
district judge's office and quarters, and room for grand jury
meetings, the district attorney's offices, bailiff's rooms, jury
rooms, and the district clerk's office. Now occupying the area
are the district clerks, district judges 31 and 223, non-jury
court room, district attorneys and court reporters rooms. A wall
has been built for the protection of the district judge and jury.
Upon completion of a county jail in 1992, the fourth floor of the
courthouse was converted from a jail to office space. Six
compartments with a capacity of six prisoners each, were located
on the fourth floor, with separate cells originally designated
for men, women, African Americans, and juveniles (the jail was
later integrated). This floor also contained a jury dorm and
jailer’s quarters. In later years, the sheriff occupied an
apartment on the west side. At present, the adult probation
officers and county treasurer occupy the fourth floor,
refurbished in 1995. The east, former jail wing has been
partitioned into maintenance and storage areas since 1994. The
District Courtroom balcony on the fourth floor, originally
equipped with opera seats and brass trim, is now a storage room.
The original light fixtures of the courtroom have been replaced
by fluorescent lighting that was inappropriately attached over
ornate ceiling medallions, which are still intact. Despite these
minor changes, the Gray County Courthouse retains its integrity
of location, setting, workmanship, materials, design, feeling and
association.
The Gray County Courthouse in Pampa, Texas, stands as an
outstanding architectural achievement, and the seat of county
government. It meets Criterion A, in the area of
Politics/Government at the local level, as the seat of county
government. The courthouse became a symbol of the prosperity and
sophistication Gray County enjoyed after the discovery of oil in
the 1920s led to the change from an agriculture &
livestock-based economy to a petroleum-based economy. The
courthouse is also nominated under Criterion C, in the area of
Architecture, at the local level, as an excellent example of a
steel-framed Beaux Arts building by Amarillo architect William
Raymond Kaufman.
Gray County was created in 1876, and named for Peter W. Gray, a
soldier, attorney, member of the first Texas Legislature and the
House of the Confederate Congress, and Texas Supreme Court
Justice. The county is located in the southern portion of the
Great Plains, partly situated on the caprock, a hardpan layer a
few feet below the ground surface. The county lies within the
Llano Estacado or "staked plains," a Spanish name that
might have referred to stakes that were placed as markers because
the lands were so vast and level.
Gray County is generally considered an undulating plain,
relatively level except for the breaks along the North Fork of
the Red River, and along McClellan Creek. About 30% of the
north-northwest area is on the level High Plains; 60% in the
central and south is rolling and broken; the remaining 10% in the
east is part deep sand. The rolling area is devoted primarily to
raising livestock, and most of the remainder is cultivated in
wheat and grain sorghum.
Native Americans may have lived in the area 20,000 years ago. The
county’s prehistoric Plains Apaches gave way to the Apaches,
who were in turn displaced by the Comanches and Kiowas. Spanish
exploration of the area began after Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
advanced into the Panhandle in 1541 in search of gold.
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Page last updated on April 9, 2000