Lampasas Downtown Historic District

Downtown Lampasas is organized around a courthouse square, the layout most common for Texas county seats in the 19th century. The Second Empire limestone courthouse, designed by Wesley Clark Dodson and built in 1883-84, sits at the center, with a bandstand and war memorial on its grounds. Surrounding streets hold one- and two-story commercial buildings, mostly limestone or brick, and most date from the 1880s. Third Street, the original main artery, has the densest concentration. The district also includes the 1870 Keystone Hotel, the 1902 Mission Style Santa Fe Depot, the 1905 Central Christian Church, St. Mary's Episcopal Church of 1884, a 1932 Art Deco city hall, and a 1938 post office. The district contains 83 resources, 53 of them contributing. Storefront modernization and some replacement buildings have changed parts of it, but it keeps the look of a Texas courthouse square. It reflects the town's growth through stagecoach and railroad commerce, cattle trade, and its fame as a mineral-springs health resort.