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Lamar County Courthouse

The Lamar County Courthouse, designed by architects Sanguinet & Staats, represents an unusual fusion of Classical Revival with heavy Romanesque details, arches, and columns.

After a fire destroyed most of downtown Paris in 1916, the damaged 1896 courthouse was de-constructed to provide a foundation and salvage granite for the current 1917 courthouse. The records vault, which pre-dates the 1896 courthouse by seven years, survived the fire and was incorporated into an annex for the 1917 courthouse.

Lamar received both a planning grant in Round II and a full restoration grant in Round III. The restoration included removing non-historic partitions and dropped ceilings throughout the building, opening the courtroom to its original two-story configuration, and restoring its balcony and the plaster and stencil work throughout the corridors, stairwells, and courtroom.

Courthouse CTA
Mason County Courthouse under construction

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Our nationally recognized and award-winning Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program has turned around the trend of disrepair and begun restoring these treasured historic landmarks.

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