A judge, and an axe

 It took an axe to inspire the construction of the Wharton County Courthouse. Really.

 

The year was 1888. The county judge was W.J. Croom.  Judge Croom went to the attic. With an axe.

 

An article puts it best from the Architecture and Design Magazine of Houston: 

 

The residents of Wharton County were not eager to foot the bill for a new courthouse, but the county judge at the time, W.J. Croom, didn’t necessarily believe the taxpayers should have the final word. To force the issue, the county sold courthouse bonds to fund the new building. Wharton citizens were so mad about this that they took out an injunction to block construction. The judge found out about the injunction, and before it could be served he climbed in the attic of the old courthouse with an ax in hands and began chopping away. When the hole he was carving in the roof was sufficiently large, he declared the building dangerous, clearing the way for a new courthouse.

 

The Architecture and Design Magazine is published quarterly by the Rice Design Alliance, a program of the Rice University School of Architecture. You can read whole article at rice.edu/2000/07/SavingTheCourthouse_Scardino_Cite48.pdf.

 

 The replacement courthouse was completed in 1889. In 1935, the mansard roof was removed as well as the clock tower. The exterior stopped being Victorian and became yellow Art Deco. One-story wings were added on two sides also in 1935, and two more were added in 1949. (Horton Foote wrote that the courthouse with its yellow finish looked like a “block of sulphur.”)

 

In 2006, the full restoration was completed after decades of twist and turns. 

 

I remember the heroes that made this miracle happen: David Bucek Sr., David Bucek Jr., Jeffrey Blair, Barbara Young, and so many others. It did not take an axe, but a county judge from El Campo can be seen as the one who tipped the scale, Lawrence Naiser.

 

Wharton County and its people did the right thing.

 

You can experience the courthouse restoration with a guided tour at 11 am Saturday, March 5. The tours are always the same time the first Saturday of each month and are free. 

 

“Players win games, but teams win championships.”