Emory, once called Springville and part of Wood County, became the center of government for newly created Rains County in 1870, when the Texas Legislature formed the county from portions of four counties and it was named for early Texas patriot Emory Rains. Springville was renamed Emory, and an existing public square was chosen as the courthouse site. A temporary log courthouse served for nearly two years before a two-room building was erected, but that building and its records burned in 1879, sending the county back to the log structure until a two-story red brick courthouse was completed in 1884. Fire gutted that courthouse in 1908, though the steel vault containing county records survived. A new courthouse, designed by the Bryan Architectural Company of St. Louis, Missouri, was built around the vault in its original location, using crushed brick from the 1884 building in the foundation, and the Falls City Construction Company of Louisville, Kentucky, completed it for opening in 1909. The courthouse has a distinctive cruciform plan with projecting wings and is built of ginger brick made at the Fraser Brick Co. in Ginger, east of town, both named for the clay's color. Designed in the Classical Revival style, it features pilasters, pediment-capped entries, and a central dome reportedly added beyond the original design. The courthouse square has long served as Emory and Rains County's social center, hosting speakers including U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and former president Lyndon Johnson, along with fairs, festivals, celebrations, and parades.