The Old Courthouse

For more than 60 years, Rockport’s skyline was dominated by an imposing three-story Moorish-inspired courthouse, the first major building designed by J. Riely Gordon, who was born in Virginia in 1863, moved with his family to San Antonio in 1874, and went on to design 18 Texas courthouses, 12 of which are still standing. Constructed from shellcrete in 1889, the Aransas County Courthouse featured multiple arched windows, a teardrop dome, and a basement, and it towered over the nearby two-story jail, windmill, and other structures. The first county judge to preside there was Paul Phelan Court. In 1893, a spiked wrought iron fence was erected around the building to keep out roaming livestock, with four sets of iron steps placed opposite the entrances to provide access over the fence, and a brick foundation was later added beneath it. During World War II, Rockport citizens used the cupola to watch for enemy planes. The courthouse did not survive the modernization movement of the early 1950s; its furnishings were sold at auction, its shellcrete walls were turned into riprap to protect the shoreline, and the building on Live Oak between Mimosa and Concho streets was replaced in 1956 by the modern single-story Aransas County Courthouse.

Rockport, Texas · United States