Lamar County is named for Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, who was the third president of the Republic of Texas from 1838 t0 1842.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Bryan County, Oklahoma and Choctaw County, Oklahoma
E – Red River County
S – Franklin County and Delta County
W – Fannin County
Created: December 17. 1840 
County Seat:
Lafayette 1841 – 1842
Mount Vernon 1842 – 1844
Paris 1844 – present
County Courthouse – Paris
Location: 119 North Main Street / West Houston Street
Built: 1916 – 1917
Style: Classical Revival and Romanesque
Architect: William G Barry, Edwin R Smith, Elmer George Withers and Sanquinet & Staats of Fort Worth
Contractor: J C Buchanan and J N Gilder
Description: The building faces south and is a five story stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Paris. The building has a raised basement. The porticos on the east and south sides of the second story have three stone arches. The building is faced with pink colored granite. Columns rise from the third story to the top of the fifth story dividing the windows. A balustrade runs along the flat roof line. In the interior there are marble floors, stairs and wainscoting. The large County District Court courtroom is located on the south side of the third story and extends into the fourth story with a large gallery. There is a smaller County District Court courtroom on the southwest side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court, County Constitutional Court, County Court at Law and County Justice Court of the 10th Administrative Judicial Region. On the west side is an attached two story addition. The building was renovated in 2005.
See: The 10th Administrative Judicial Region has a main office in Longview in Gregg County.
History: The county was created in 1840 and Lafayette was selected as the county seat in 1841. The first courthouse was built in Lafayette 1841. In 1842, the county seat was moved to Mount Vernon but no courthouse was built. In 1844, the county seat was moved to Paris. The second courthouse was built in Paris in 1844, the third was built in 1847 and the fourth was built in 1873. The fifth courthouse was a Richardson Romaneque style structure designed by Sanguinet & Messer of Fort Worth and constructed by Martin Byrne & Johnston in 1896 to 1897. The building was destroyed by fire in 1916. The sixth and present courthouse was constructed in 1916 to 1917.
County Courthouse – Paris
County District Court courtroom
County District Court small courtroom
Picture 1897 County Courthouse
Photos taken 2010 and 2019
Images 21*