Cooke County Courthouse | |
 Cooke County Courthouse (2021) | |
   | |
| Location | 101 S Dixon St, Gainesville, Texas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°37′25″N97°08′44″W / 33.62361°N 97.14556°W |
| Built | 1912 |
| Architect | Lang & Witchell |
| Architectural style | École des Beaux-Arts |
| NRHP reference No. | 91000336 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 22, 1991 |
The Cooke County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Gainesville, Texas. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [2]
The courthouse was designed by Lang & Witchell, and was constructed in 1912. [3] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1988. [4]
On the lawn of the courthouse stands a monolith topped by a 1911 statue of a Confederate soldier. The inscription at the base of the statue reads, “no nation rose so white and fair none fell so pure of crime” in reference to the Southern cause. [5] In 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the removal of Confederate statues across the United States, Cooke County Commissioners voted to retain the statue outside the courthouse. [6] [7] Protesters advocating against the statue were later sentenced to prison time for "obstructing a highway". [8] The protesters petitioned their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, who in 2024 declined to review the case. [9]