The Texas Legislature created Throckmorton County – named for pioneer doctor William E. Throckmorton – in 1858, with organization delayed until 1879. F.E. Conrad donated land for the town square and built a frame courthouse on this site. The firm of Martin, Byrne and Johnston designed this 1890-93 courthouse built by J.L. Dewees andJacob Rath. The two-story Italianate-style building features polychromatic walls of quarried sandstone, quoins, pilasters, horizontal bands, arched doors and windows and a mansard roof with brackets, pediments and a square cupola. A matching annex was built in 1938.
