A fair number of Northeast Texas county seats have something in common … other than being the center of government in their respective counties.
Those “centers of government” operate in courthouses that have been refurbished, renovated and restored to their original glory through the use of grant funds distributed by the Texas Historical Preservation Commission.
Many of those restored courthouses sit in the middle of town squares that have seen a related Renaissance in their economic life and vitality.
Jennifer Self Knight, administrative assistant at the Bonham Tourism and Visitors Center – across the street from the newly renovated Fannin County Courthouse – attests to that reality. “We have seen much more traffic in the past year,” Knight said, “especially with Bois d’Arc Lake being developed along with the courthouse. They’re both drawing people to Bonham and to Fannin County.”
The downtown courthouse square has gone from having only four or five stores open prior to the courthouse renovation to being “almost full now,” she said.
Susan Tietz is program coordinator for the Texas Courthouse Restoration Program based in Austin and she said the program has been a huge “win-win” for all the counties that have participated in it.
Upshur County’s courthouse is “currently underway,” Tietz said, predicting that the county will see an expected boost in economic activity once the project is completed.
“We did some economic impact studies that determined restorations have brought tremendous impact to communities,” she said, citing one study done in Wharton County near Houston. Wharton County’s downtown courthouse square was “derelict” prior to its courthouse restoration, she said. After the project was finished, she added, economic activity on the square boosted by 300%.
Harrison County’s courthouse square featured buildings with “broken windows” and the courthouse had been vacant for more than 20 years, Tietz said. “As soon as people in Marshall heard about the planned courthouse restoration,” Tietz explained, “they began buying property downtown.” She said downtown Marshall is “now thriving.”
Tietz also noted that Denton County – which also has a restored courthouse – has become a “destination for students attending (the University of) North Texas.”
Tietz also noted that Hunt County’s courthouse renovation project is “shovel ready” and work will commence soon on that project. “We anticipate they’ll be applying for full restoration construction in our next round of funding in 2024,” Tietz said.
The program will go on indefinitely, Tietz said, adding that of Texas’s 254 counties, 246 of them are deemed “eligible for restoration funding.” She said that 140 counties have presented master plans and 78 counties have received grant money to do the work.
The Texas Legislature this year approved a bill increasing the state’s commitment to courthouse restoration from $6 million to $10 million per project, which Tietz said lightens local governments’ fiscal burden.
The courthouse restoration program has many allies in government, particularly those in rural parts of the state.
State Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction is one of them. Murr wrote: “As a former county judge, I was proud to steer Kimble County toward the Courthouse Preservation Program and was thrilled that Kimble County finally achieved that elusive full restoration grant in July 2022.“
As for Denton County, which Tietz cited as an example of economic revival in the wake of courthouse restoration, the Historical Commission reports: “Denton has also seen a rise in funds collected from the hotel occupancy tax (HOT), which further illustrates an increase in visitation. There was a 23 percent increase in HOT funds collected in 2007 from 2006, and from October 2007–December 2008 the city generated $1.3 million in revenue from the HOT.”
James Malanaphy and Rob Hodges, from the Texas Historical Commission, speak glowingly of the work done in Bonham. “If you only saw the Fannin County Courthouse in Bonham five years ago and then saw it again now, you’d swear it was not the same building. After a four-year restoration that cost $27.8 million, it is utterly transformed,” they noted.
One event that stopped traffic, literally, in Bonham occurred in 2022 with the raising of the clock tower above the courthouse. “On March 10, 2022, hundreds gathered on the courthouse square (while many more watched a livestream) and cheered as the bell tower clock struck 10 a.m. and Fannin County Judge Randy Moore began the rededication ceremony. Among the attendees was Mary Helen Dodson, great-granddaughter of Wesley Clark Dodson, the courthouse’s original architect,” Malanaphy and Hodges wrote.
Moore is no longer the county judge, as he retired from office at the end of this past year. The new judge is Newt Cunningham, who says the county is now working on a strategy to develop a justice center that would contain the courts, district attorney, justice of the peace and an office for the county sheriff.
“That’s our No. 1 project right now,” Cunningham said of the justice center, which will be situated in a former Wal-Mart/Brookshire’s site in Bonham. “We need to bring everyone under one roof,” he said. Cunningham said he has secured some grant money and some bonds to cover part of the project’s expense but added that he is working on a plan to get the rest of the money to pay for the justice center.
The county courthouse renovation was a “fairly expensive” project, Cunningham said, costing all told nearly $30 million. Prior to the renovation, he said, the county courthouse had about 54 people in the pre-restored courthouse. “Now we’re down to just 17 people” in the renovated structure, he said.
Cunningham calls the courthouse a “crown jewel” for Bonham. “Everyone has a lot of pride in the building. He said the “bad design of the 1888 structure still holds” for what the county unveiled in 2022 when it reopened the courthouse after its renovation. The courthouse that was built in 1888 had “bad acoustics,” Cunningham said, adding that “they’re still bad.”
Melissa Maxwell, director of Marketing and Tourism for the City of Bonham, said, “A lot of squares are being torn down. But Bonham and Fannin County are thriving now.” She echoed Knight’s assessment of the impact that Bois d’Arc Lake and Lake Ralph Hall – which also is under development – are having on the life of the community.
“We definitely have seen a ripple effect,” Knight said, “and you can see it throughout the city.”
Judge Cunningham also noted another positive impact the renovated courthouse has had on the administering of justice in Fannin County. “We’re getting a lot more people showing up for jury duty,” he said, “whereas before we had difficulty getting people to report for jury duty.”
He added, “Now, people want to come and see what the courthouse looks like.” He said the courthouse, therefore, has helped improve residents’ commitment to their civic duty as citizens.