Hale County - American Courthouses

Hale County is named for John C Hale, who was killed at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Castro County and Swisher County

E – Floyd County

S – Lubbock County

W – Lamb County

Created: August 21, 1876

County Seat:

Plainview 1888 – present

County Courthouse – Plainview

Location: 500 Broadway Street / East 5th Street

Built: 1909 – 1910

Style: Texas Renaissance and Beaux Arts

Architect: H A Overbeck of Martin, Byrne & Johnston

Contractor: W T McRae

Description: The building faces north and is a three story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Plainview. The building has a small portico with two double white colored columns and balcony on the north front. There is stone trim around the windows and decoration on the third floor brick. Stone trim is along the horizontal cornice near the roof line. On the building center is a rounded yellow colored dome. In the interior, the large courtroom is located on the third story and the small courtroom is located on the second story. The building houses the Constitutional County Court and County Justice Court. The building was renovated in 1980. The architect was L James Robinson and the contractor was Bell and Cook.

County Justice Center – Plainview

Location: 225 Broadway Street / West 3rd Street

Built: Unknown

Style: Commercial

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces south and is a one story red colored brick and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Plainview to the south of the courthouse and is named as the Day Boyd La Front Justice Center. On the south side is a wide porch with recessed glass entrance. The east side has a central glass section. The roof line is flat. In the interior, there are two courtrooms. The building was originally a Sears store and was remodeled by the County in 2007. The contractor was W M Tyler.

See: The 9th Administrative Judicial Region has a main office in Amarillo in Potter County.

History: The county was created in 1876 and Plainview was selected as the county seat in 1888 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a wood structure built in 1888 at a cost of $2,500. The second courthouse was a two story frame structure designed and built by Martin, Byrne and Johnston of Colorado City in 1890. The third and present courthouse was constructed at a cost of $70,000. The remodeling in 1980 was $1,000,000. The County Justice Center was opened in 2007.

Note: The 1890 courthouse was purchased by a local doctor and used as a drug store.