Goliad County is named for the Mexican Municipality of Goliad, which was named for Father Miguel Hidalgo and is an anagram of Hidalgo, minus the silent ”h”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – DeWitt County and Victoria County
E – Victoria County and Refugio County
S – Bee County
W – Bee County and Karnes County
Created: March 2, 1836 
County Seat:
Goliad 1836 – present
County Courthouse – Goliad
Location: 127 Courthouse Square / South Commercial Street
Built: 1893 – 1894
Style: Second Empire
Architect: Henry E M Guidon
Contractor: Martin, Byrnes and Johnston.
Description: The building faces north and is a three story limestone and brick structure. The building is located on the landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of the city. The building is built of brown-gray colored blue Muldoon sandstone with a rusticated finish for the walls. Bell courses are of dark red colored Pecos sandstone. The north front has square stone towers topped by square cupolas on either side of the arched entrance on the first story. Above the entrance is an arched window and on the third story are three narrow windows with an iron balcony. On each corner of the building are large square towers with mansard roofs. On the building center is a high square clock tower with steep roof, which tower was restored in 2003 after being removed in 1942. In the interior, the floors are tinted cement tile. The large courtroom on the second story has a pressed mental ceiling, balcony and furnishings. The building houses the State District Court and Constitutional County Court. The building was restored in 2003. The architect was TWC Architects.
See: The architect, Alfred Giles of San Antonio also desitgned the courthouses in Brooks County, * Caldwell County, Gillespie County, ** Kendall County, Live Oak County. Presidio County, Webb County and Wilson County * Giles worked with Henry E M Guidon and the Caldwell and Goliad courthouse are similar in design. **Kendall couthouse 1909 addition.
Note: The 4th Administrative Judicial Region has a main office at San Antonio in Bexar County.
History: The county was created in 1836 as one of the original 23 counties and Golaid was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was built in 1847. The second courthouse was a two story stone structure built in 1855 but burned on July 27, 1870. The third courthouse was built in 1870. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1893 to 1894 at a cost of $67,889.
County Courthouse – Goliad
Hanging Tree
Photos taken 2009, 2014 and 2019