{"nrhp_refnum":"82004509","name":"Jefferson County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1149 Pearl St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beaumont","county":"Jefferson County","state":"TX","lat":30.078890000000058,"lon":-94.09310999999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A fourteen-story Art Deco county courthouse at 1149 Pearl Street in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas, built in 1931-32 to designs by local architects Fred C. Stone and A. Babin.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the most outstanding examples of Art Deco architecture in Texas and an important landmark of Texas Gulf Coast architecture. Its set-back skyscraper form, carved limestone panels and lavish interior metalwork, marble and plaster are cited. It was also one of the first high-rise public buildings in Texas and remains virtually unaltered.","narrative":"Rising fourteen floors above downtown Beaumont, the Jefferson County Courthouse is a steel-frame, buff brick Art Deco building completed in 1932. Architects Fred C. Stone, a former Beaumont mayor, and A. Babin designed a stepped tower set back from flanking wings, funded by a million dollar bond issue. Carved limestone ornament includes eagles, garlands, wheat sheaves and panels showing sawyers, cowboys, farmers and oil field roughnecks. Inside, aluminum doors and cabinets, molded plaster, French, Belgian and Italian marble, terrazzo floors and a metal map of the county's industries carry the style throughout. The site had hosted county courthouses since 1838, and the 1932 building was the first to house all county offices, courts and the jail together. Its skyscraper form made it one of the earliest high-rise public buildings in Texas. Aluminum replacement windows and a three-story granite annex added around 1980 are noted as alterations, but the original character remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1931-32","architect_builder":"Fred C. Stone and A. Babin, architects","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the county courthouse; a large renovation program was scheduled and a late-1970s annex was added to the north.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.526817-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/9727/40972700/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/82004509.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004509/ba37beb867-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004509/ba37beb867-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jefferson_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:Jefferson_courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972700","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_County_Courthouse_(Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6175424"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/jefferson-county/jefferson-county-courthouse-82004509/"}