Designed in a Modern style by Wilbur Kent, the Angelina County Courthouse was built of brick, limestone, and steel in 1955.
The county’s first session of court convened at the home of Isaac Dunagan. In The Texas Courthouse Revisited, June Rayfield Welch provides an interesting account of one legal battle:
An early trial was held beneath a huge tree with the jury seated on a pine log. The offense was hog theft, and the purloined swine’s ears were principal exhibits. A fight occurred during the trial, and while everyone watched the altercation, dogs made off with the evidence requiring dismissal of the case.
Angelina County was carved out of the southern portion of Nacogdoches County and organized in 1846. The county name, which means “little angel,” is in memory of a young Native American girl who befriended Spanish missionaries in the 1600s.
Marion served as the first county seat, complete with a two-story log courthouse that remained active until 1850. This first courthouse was replaced with a two-story frame structure, which was moved to Homer, the new county seat, in the late 1850s.
In 1861, orders were placed for a new brick courthouse, but construction was delayed by the war. Another two-story frame structure was raised in 1873 in Homer and housed county offices until a fire destroyed the building in 1891.
In the meantime, the city of Lufkin was making its mark, thanks to the Houston, East and West Railroad, which ran its tracks north into the forests of East Texas.
Lufkin made a bid for the county seat but lost an election to Homer in 1885. When the courthouse in Homer burned, a second election was conducted. Lufkin supporters offered to build a courthouse free of charge to the county, and the election was secured with a vote of 1,076 to 436.
Three courthouses have made their home in Lufkin:
- a $2,000 frame structure completed in 1892;
- a three-story domed temple of justice erected in 1903; and
- the current county courthouse, which opened its doors in 1955.
The county offers a variety of facilities that not only serve the local community, but also lure visitors and tourists:
- Ellen Trout Park and Zoo
- Texas Forestry Museum
- Museum of East Texas
- Angelina Center for the Arts Temple Theater
- Pitser Garrison Convention Center
- Angelina County Exposition Center
- Lottie and Arthur Temple Civic Center
- Two major hospitals – CHI St. Lukes Health Memorial Hospital and Woodland Heights Medical Center
The county, surrounded by the beautiful Pineywoods of Deep East Texas, has been described as “peaceful and quaint” yet also has become a regional hub for retail shopping, medical facilities, government, and industry. Perhaps that is why Lufkin was once rated by Life in America’s Small Cities as one of the best small cities in America!