This is the Live Oak County Courthouse located in George West, Texas. The courthouse was built in 1919 in the Texas Renaissance style. While it's not a fancy looking building, it is another example of what makes courthouses in small towns special.
George West is the home of Texas folklorist J. Frank Dobie. In 1941 he published his detailed history of the Texas longhorn cattle, entitled, appropriately enough, The Longhorns.
This is the district courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse. According to Lois Shannon, the district clerk, the courthouse is supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of children running around downstairs. Here's an excerpt from the Texas Ghosthunters website about the ghosts in the courthouse.
People have reported hearing the sounds of children playing and laughing, although there were never any children harmed or killed within the courthouse.
There is also a picture in the district courtroom of an ex-district court justice whose eyes will follow you all over the courtroom. It has also been told that if you walk on the south hall on the second floor you will hear footsteps following you. The city founder, George Washington West, has been seen in the same hallway. I witnessed this for myself while standing on the ground outside the courthouse one night.
The yellow building is an addition to the courthouse. As you can tell, at the intersection of form and function someone ran a stop sign because that's a mess.
I'll leave y'all with this relic from a bygone era.
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