{"nrhp_refnum":"03000328","name":"San Saba County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"500 E. Wallace","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Saba","county":"San Saba County","state":"TX","lat":31.195320423000055,"lon":-98.71692482599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-05-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A county courthouse at 500 E. Wallace in San Saba, San Saba County, Texas, built in 1911 as a brick, stucco and sandstone Classical Revival building. Walter W. Chamberlain designed it and Walter R. Smith is named as builder.","why_significant":"The courthouse is argued to be significant under Criterion A as the continuous center of county government since 1911. It also qualifies under Criterion C as an excellent, intact example of a Classical Revival public building by Walter W. Chamberlin, who designed more than two dozen surviving courthouses. It also shows local touches such as rusticated sandstone quoins.","narrative":"Completed in 1911, the San Saba County Courthouse is a four-story Classical Revival building of red pressed brick, rusticated local sandstone and buff stucco. Walter W. Chamberlain of Birmingham, Alabama, designed it, and local builder Walter R. Smith advised the commissioners in choosing the design. Pedimented porticos on the north and south fronts carry a lone star, wreaths and the motto \"From the People to the People,\" and a wood-framed clock tower with four clock faces rises above the square. Inside, the District Courtroom occupies the center of the third floor, and much original woodwork, hardware and hexagonal tile survives. Alterations include the porticos' Ionic columns being changed to Doric before 1940, aluminum doors in 1973 and an elevator in 1986. It replaced earlier frame and stone courthouses on the same square. The building is listed for its long role as the seat of county government from 1911 and as a well-preserved example of Classical Revival design applied to a small Texas county courthouse.","period_of_significance":"1911-1952","architect_builder":"Walter W. Chamberlain (also Chamberlin), architect; Walter R. Smith, builder","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as the county courthouse; restoration of Doric porticos, cupola elements and other missing features is planned through the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.149541-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/9733/40973324/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/03000328.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000328/dfc23adf56-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000328/dfc23adf56-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Aualliso","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Saba_County_Courthouse_September_2020.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Aualliso</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Saba_County_Courthouse_September_2020.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973324","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107320078"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/san-saba-county/san-saba-county-courthouse-03000328/"}