Plainview Commercial Historic District

Downtown Plainview's historic commercial core is a district of 109 structures arranged on a grid around the Hale County Courthouse, built in 1910. Most buildings are low-rise masonry, built of brick or clay tile with brick veneer or stucco, and their facades show brick ornamentation ranging from Classical Revival to Art Moderne. A few larger reinforced-concrete buildings, including an eight-story hotel and the metal-domed courthouse, rise above them. Brick-paved streets laid in 1917, Plainview's first paving project, add to the area's cohesion. Of the structures, 67 contribute to the district's character, 15 are compatible and 27 are intrusive. Many storefronts have been altered, though most changes are at street level and considered reversible. The district was listed as an example of early-1900s commercial growth in the Texas Panhandle. Plainview was founded in 1887, and the railroad's arrival in 1906 and the courthouse in 1910 began a period of rapid growth lasting until 1930.