{"nrhp_refnum":"08000339","name":"Chambers County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"404 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Anahuac","county":"Chambers County","state":"TX","lat":29.76921152400007,"lon":-94.68493046799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-04-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, cast-in-place concrete county courthouse at 404 Washington Street in Anahuac, Chambers County, Texas, designed in 1935 by architect Corneil G. Curtis and built in 1936-37 by contractor Robert E. McKee.","why_significant":"It has served as the center of Chambers County government for seventy years, and was built with a federal Public Works Administration grant after the first courthouse burned in 1935. It is also considered an excellent example of an early modern Texas courthouse in the Moderne style, with a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Occupying a full square block in Anahuac on the Texas Gulf Coast, this three-story courthouse was designed in 1935 by Austin architect Corneil G. Curtis and built in 1936-37 by El Paso contractor Robert E. McKee. Its cast-in-place concrete frame is sheathed in Texas fossil limestone, and its stepped massing is ornamented with fluted pilasters and relief rondels showing marshes, waterfowl, shipping, oil and fishing. Tall aluminum lanterns flank the stairs on all four sides. Inside, pink marble wainscots, bronze light fixtures and oak and walnut courtroom furnishings survive. The building replaced a courthouse lost to fire in April 1935 and was funded partly by a $90,000 Public Works Administration grant. It cost $276,000 and was dedicated in June 1937. It was air-conditioned when built and has served the county without interruption since. It is valued for its role in county government and as an early example of modern Texas courthouse design, retaining a high degree of integrity despite window replacement in 1966.","period_of_significance":"1935-1958","architect_builder":"Corneil G. Curtis, Architect; Robert E. McKee, General Contractor","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as the county courthouse; steel windows were replaced with aluminum windows in 1966, but the exterior and interior retain a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.657018-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/9714/40971498/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/08000339.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000339/a474b826d6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000339/a474b826d6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chambers_county_tx_courthouse_2014.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chambers_county_tx_courthouse_2014.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971498","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107317989"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/chambers-county/chambers-county-courthouse-08000339/"}