The Hamilton County Courthouse was completed in 1887 for $30,700. The designers created the limestone county capitol using a Second Empire emphasis.
Hamilton County struggled to keep a courthouse upright for many years, as every courthouse prior to 1887 burned:
- The first county home, a converted livery barn, was charred in 1863. A special tax was levied to replace the lost records.
- In 1871, the county sold a lot to F. M. Graves for $30 with the stipulation that Graves would build a stone building with upper rooms suitable for conducting court and other county business, to be rented to the county. The building burned in 1877. The county then rented a room in a local saloon for $5 per month.
- In 1878, a courthouse was erected on the square for $11,559; flames destroyed this building in 1886.
The 1887 courthouse was expanded and remodeled in 1931 into a Classical Revival structure, complete with crenellated towers and a large, columned portico. The renovation bid was $55,754. Due to the Depression, the contractor had to hire local labor, giving preference to families with dependents and spreading the work among as many as possible.
The courthouse was fully restored and rededicated on April 28, 2012.
Early settlers prompted the creation and organization of the county, circulating a petition in 1856 asking that a new county be formed to accommodate the needs of a growing population. Later that year, the Legislature honored their request and carved Hamilton County from land in Comanche, Bosque, and Lampasas counties.
Two years later, a commission selected the town of Hamilton as the county seat.
Both the county and its seat were named for James Hamilton, a former governor of South Carolina who invested some $216,000 in gold to finance Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico.
Hamilton eventually came to Texas as a diplomatic agent for the Texas Republic. On a trip to Galveston in 1857, his ship wrecked. Hamilton sacrificed himself, giving his life preserver to a woman and her child.
Sheltered in a pleasant valley of Pecan Creek, Hamilton delights home folks and visitors alike with its scenic beauty every season of the year. Lovely trees and historic homes and buildings surround the courthouse, the center of life and commerce of the community.
Hamilton’s moderate climate affords the possibility of year-round fishing, boating, and other water sports at City Lake, Cowhouse Creek, the Leon River, and nearby Lake Proctor. Deer, quail, dove, duck and turkey draw hunters to Hamilton from early September through early spring. Small game hunting for rabbit, fox, squirrel, bobcat, and raccoon is also conveniently available.
Every Labor Day weekend, the community celebrates the county’s designation as “The Dove Capital of Texas” with the Annual Hamilton County Dove Festival reminiscent of an old-fashioned county fair and rodeo. – The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation contributed to this article.
