{"nrhp_refnum":"78002976","name":"Old Reagan County Courthouse","other_names":["Stiles Courthouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Off TX 137","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stiles","county":"Reagan County","state":"TX","lat":31.406508873000064,"lon":-101.56593797099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-05-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story rusticated limestone county courthouse on the old Public Square at Stiles, Reagan County, Texas, built in 1911 by contractor William Martin, with a separate stone records vault beside it.","why_significant":"It was the first substantial courthouse built in Reagan County and served as the seat of county government until the seat moved to Big Lake in 1925. Afterward it served as a community gathering place and briefly as a school. It is the main survivor of the declining town of Stiles.","narrative":"Standing alone on what remains of the Public Square in Stiles, Texas, this two-story limestone courthouse was completed in 1911 as the first substantial courthouse in Reagan County. Contractor William Martin of Comanche built it from native stone quarried half a mile away and hauled by mule- and donkey-drawn wagons. Its four identical, symmetrical facades have a projecting arched portico, and the interior follows a Greek cross plan. A separate limestone records vault stands to the east. Stiles was the county's only town when the county was organized in 1903, but a railroad bypassed it in 1912 and the oil boom at Big Lake led voters to move the county seat there in 1925. The old courthouse then hosted parties, barbecues and dances, and served briefly as a school. It was last occupied in the early 1950s and has deteriorated, though the county now plans restoration for community use.","period_of_significance":"1911","architect_builder":"William Martin","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied since the early 1950s and in an advanced state of deterioration; the county owner is pursuing restoration for future community use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.950842-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/9732/40973249/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/78002976.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002976/31a5c459cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002976/31a5c459cf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"BlueSteel75 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stiles_Courthouse2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">BlueSteel75 at 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:Stiles_Courthouse2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973249","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107323153"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/reagan-county/old-reagan-county-courthouse-78002976/"}