Webb County Courthouse (Texas)

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Webb County Courthouse
Webb County Courthouse 2007.jpg
Webb County Courthouse
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Webb County Courthouse
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Webb County Courthouse
Location 1000 Houston St., Laredo, Texas
Coordinates 27°30′26″N99°30′20″W / 27.50722°N 99.50556°W / 27.50722; -99.50556 Coordinates: 27°30′26″N99°30′20″W / 27.50722°N 99.50556°W / 27.50722; -99.50556
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1909 (1909)
Architect Alfred Giles, H. Sperbert
Architectural style Beaux-Arts
NRHP reference # 81000635 [1]
TSAL # 678
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 4, 1981
Designated TSAL 5/15/1992

The Webb County Courthouse is located in Laredo in the U.S. state of Texas. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Laredo, Texas City in Texas, United States

Laredo is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the brief Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexico–United States border. Laredo's economy is based on international trade with Mexico. Many major transportation companies have a facility in Laredo. The city is on the southern end of I-35 which makes it close to the manufacturers in northern Mexico. It has four international bridges and one railway bridge.

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Texas State of the United States of America

Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.

Contents

Design

In 1907, Webb County placed ads in local newspapers announcing a contest to design a new courthouse. Famed San Antonio architect Alfred Giles submitted the winning bid on February 27, 1907. The courthouse was completed in 1909 for $46,918. [2] [3]

San Antonio City in Texas, United States

San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, and the second-most populous city in both Texas and the Southern United States, with more than 1.5 million residents. Founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in 1718, the city became the first chartered civil settlement in present-day Texas in 1731. The area was still part of the Spanish Empire, and later of the Mexican Republic. Today it is the state's oldest municipality.

Alfred Giles (architect) architect

Alfred Giles (1853–1920) was a British architect who emigrated to Texas in 1875, at the age of 22. Many of the private homes and public buildings designed by Giles are on the National Register of Historic Places and have been designated Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. A number of his designs can be found in San Antonio and in Kendall County, Texas. He is known for his numerous designs of county courthouses, of banks and other commercial buildings, and homes he designed in central Texas and Mexico. Giles is credited with "a profound influence on architecture in San Antonio."

The Beaux-Arts building features a curved judge's bench. A stained glass window features "Justice" holding the scales. Tile floors are in the Mediterranean style. Alamo Iron Works produced the wrought iron staircases. Interior doors are solid wood with brass knobs. Mansard roofed terminal pavilions feature stone-carved rams head accents. The building features yellow brick with dressings of white stone and red tile mansard roofs. The landscaping includes pecan trees and citrus trees. [2] [4] A cornerstone records the contractor, H. Sparbert, and architect, Alfred Giles, 1909. "254 Texas Courthouses". 

Beaux-Arts architecture expresses the academic neoclassical architectural style

Beaux-Artsarchitecture was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Gothic and Renaissance elements, and used modern materials, such as iron and glass. It was an important style in France until the end of the 19th century. It also had a strong influence on architecture in the United States, because of the many prominent American architects who studied at the Beaux-Arts, including Henry Hobson Richardson, John Galen Howard, Daniel Burnham, and Louis Sullivan.

Mansard roof four-sided gambrel-style hip roof

A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The steep roof with windows creates an additional floor of habitable space, and reduces the overall height of the roof for a given number of habitable stories. The upper slope of the roof may not be visible from street level when viewed from close proximity to the building.

Many of Alfred Giles' buildings have been demolished over the years. This fine example of his work shows why he continues to have the respect of architects, historians, and laymen alike.

In November 2010, the county held an art contest to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the courthouse. County Judge Danny Valdez and Javier Santos of the Fernando A. Salinas Charitable Trust Fund unveiled the winning design on November 12, 2010. The winning design was submitted by Jocelyn Rivera, and became a stained glass window on the third floor of the courthouse. [5]

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Webb County, Texas Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Webb County, Texas.

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References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "THC details". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "THC-Webb Co Courthoust". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "TE-Webb Co Courthouse". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  5. ↑ Resendez, Yanira (12 November 2010). "Webb County Courthouse celebrates 100th Anniversary". Laredo Sun.

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