Old Hidalgo County Courthouse

Old Hidalgo County Courthouse

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1886, Samuel W. Brooks. Courthouse Sq., bounded by Bridge and 1st sts. and E. Dalia and E. Flora aves.

The square-plan brick courthouse built by Brownsville master builder Brooks was originally two stories in height capped by a cupola. Damaged by fire in 1910, the first floor is all that remains of the structure. Divided by pilasters into three bays at each elevation, the now-vacant building was rehabilitated as a bank in the 1980s, and covered by a hipped roof set within high brick parapets. Faring better than the courthouse in the fire, the adjacent two-story brick jailhouse is simply detailed and preserved as a meeting center with some of its metal cells still in evidence in its interior.

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