{"nrhp_refnum":"77001426","name":"Bexar County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main Plaza","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.42322416500008,"lon":-98.49350814699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A county courthouse on Main Plaza in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, designed by architect James Riely Gordon in the Romanesque style. Construction ran from 1891 to 1896, and the building has been enlarged several times since.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is important architecturally, historically and symbolically. It has been the center of county government and judicial activity since completion and reflects Main Plaza's long link with the administration of justice. With San Fernando Cathedral, it defines this part of central San Antonio.","narrative":"Overlooking Main Plaza in San Antonio, the Bexar County Courthouse is a Romanesque building of Texas granite and red sandstone, designed by 27-year-old James Riely Gordon after he won a design competition. Ground was broken in 1891, the cornerstone was laid in 1892, and construction finished in 1896. Gordon planned it with towers, tile roofs, colonnades and an open east court shaped to channel the prevailing southeast breeze. The building was expanded in 1914-15 and remodeled in 1926-28, when a fifth story was added and the east patio was lost. Further additions came in 1963, 1970-72 and 1973, and these did not follow the original materials. The site continues a long tradition of civic use on Main Plaza, where the Spanish-era Casas Reales once stood. The courthouse has housed county government and a growing number of district, county and justice courts since its completion, and it helps define the plaza alongside San Fernando Cathedral.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James Riely Gordon, architect; built under the supervision of George Dugan, Otto P. Kroeger and David Hughes. Later work by Leo M. J. Dielmann and Charles T. Boelhauwe (1914-15, H.N. Jones Construction Company); Phelps and Dewees, Emmett T. Jackson and George Willis (1926); Edward R. Gondeck (1963 and 1970s additions).","architectural_style":"Romanesque (described as Richardsonian Romanesque in accompanying correspondence)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in government use as a courthouse; later additions, especially on the west and southwest sides, are described as unsympathetic to the original materials.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.846844-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/9712/40971211/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001426.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001426/4a43acf382-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001426/4a43acf382-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nima Kasraie (Zereshk on en.wikipedia)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bexar_County_Court_House_perspective.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nima Kasraie (Zereshk on en.wikipedia)</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bexar_County_Court_House_perspective.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79002914","name":"Main and Military Plazas Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-and-military-plazas-historic-district-79002914/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971211","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bexar_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4899771"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/bexar-county-courthouse-77001426/"}