Willacy County formed in 1911, and several years later a courthouse designed by San Antonio architect Henry T. Phelps was built in Sarita, but Sarita remained remote and inaccessible to many county residents. In 1921, the 37th Legislature created the present-day Willacy County and designated Raymondville as the county seat. Early county meetings in Raymondville were held in the Raymondville State Bank Building, and officials arranged to use a jail cage borrowed from the King Ranch. That year, the commissioners agreed with Henry T. Phelps, who had designed the first Willacy County Courthouse in Sarita, to design a new courthouse and jail. His design used a traditional cross-axial plan with three floors and a basement, with entrances on all four sides at the ends of crossed corridors. The first floor, reached by monumental exterior stairs, contained the county courtroom and offices of the county judge and other officials. The second floor housed the district courtroom, jury, grand jury, consultation and witness rooms, as well as other offices. The jail occupied the third floor and included a cell room and sleeping quarters for juries. Built of brick with cast stone ornament, the building was completed in 1923 by the Walker Construction Company and became a focus of civic activities and local pride, hosting festivals, meetings, community events, county business, and numerous high-profile cases. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.