{"nrhp_refnum":"80004134","name":"Hays County Courthouse","other_names":["See Also:Hays County Courthouse Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Public Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Marcos","county":"Hays County","state":"TX","lat":29.88256222800004,"lon":-97.94065526499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The fourth Hays County Courthouse, a Classical Revival government building on the Public Square in San Marcos, Texas, built in 1909 to designs by C.H. Page and Brothers of Austin.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the most significant surviving examples of monumental Classical Revival architecture in Texas. It replaced the limestone courthouse destroyed by fire in 1908 and has been the focus of county government and law enforcement for about three quarters of a century. Despite remodelling, it retains most of its original workmanship and details.","narrative":"Rising above the Public Square in San Marcos, the Hays County Courthouse was completed in 1909 to replace a limestone courthouse lost to fire in 1908. C.H. Page and Brothers of Austin designed it in the Classical Revival style, using the Corinthian order and a symmetrical cruciform plan. Gray and buff Elgin brick walls carry white limestone trim, and a tetrastyle portico marks the south front. A copper-plated dome crowns the building and supports a round tower topped by a nine-foot statue of Justice. Inside, corridors meet at a three-story domed rotunda with a marble and iron stairway and a Lone Star mosaic floor. Offices were added or remodelled in 1962, 1965 and the 1970s, mostly inside, leaving the exterior largely intact. It is the fourth courthouse on a site donated to the county in 1851, and it is recognized as an outstanding Texas example of monumental Classical Revival design.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1908-1909)","architect_builder":"C.H. Page and Brothers","architectural_style":"Classical Revival (Corinthian order)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the county government building; described as in good condition, though the second and third floor interiors need restoration and plaster repair.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.249084-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/9725/40972541/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004134.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004134/19c2249aa6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004134/19c2249aa6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hays_courthouse.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:Hays_courthouse.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92001233","name":"Hays County Courthouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/hays-county-courthouse-historic-district-92001233/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972541","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5687188"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hays-county/hays-county-courthouse-80004134/"}