Shackelford County Courthouse Historic District

Albany's courthouse square forms the heart of this 17-acre district in Shackelford County, Texas. The central building is the Victorian-style courthouse designed by J. E. Flanders of Dallas, praised for its massive rough-faced limestone walls, finely dressed trim, quoins and clock tower. Around the square stand stone and frame commercial buildings along South Main Street, the first county jail of stone, the Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church of local limestone, and several Victorian residences. Early frame buildings from 1875 to 1880, such as the old Shields Hotel and a warehouse later used by Sanger Brothers, sit beside rock business houses from the 1880s. Growth accelerated after the Texas Central Railroad reached Albany in 1881 and Fort Griffin merchants relocated to the county seat. Details such as panelled storefronts, stone lintels, pilasters and jigsaw ornament record the craftsmanship of local builders including A. W. Duffy and stonecutter Patrick McDonald. Together the buildings document the early commercial and civic growth of the town.