1914 Neo-Classical Texas Courthouse
201 W Aspen St, Crosbyton, TX 79322
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public government building; no admission fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved walks; building has elevator access
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1914 · Texas Historic Landmark · Neo-Classical Civic Architecture
Crosby County was created from the Bexar Land District in 1876 and organized in 1886. The first county seat was Estacado, founded in 1879 by a colony of Quaker settlers. County offices initially operated out of dugouts, shacks, and wagons. A first courthouse was completed in Estacado in 1888.
In 1890, the county seat moved to Emma, more centrally located in the county. The 1888 courthouse at Estacado was disassembled, transported, and rebuilt at Emma at a cost of $3,000, an unusual example of literal architectural relocation in the Texas frontier era.
When the Crosbyton-South Plains Railroad was constructed in 1910, the route bypassed Emma by four miles. Crosbyton, founded along the rail line by the Crosbyton Townsite Company in 1908, won an election to become the new county seat. Julian Bassett, a Crosbyton founder, donated the land for the new courthouse.
Fort Worth architect M. L. Waller designed the building in the Neo-Classical style, with a full-height entry portico supported by four white columns and topped with a triangular pediment. Contractor S. Goodrum of Sweetwater completed construction in late 1914. The two-story structure of brown brick and concrete sits at the center of Crosbyton's town square. The building remains in active service as the seat of Crosby County government and is documented by the Texas Historical Commission as a significant example of early 20th century West Texas civic architecture.
Sources
The Crosby County Courthouse holds a single, narrow paranormal narrative, repeated by employees over multiple decades and unusual mostly for its consistency. The building's elevator, installed during the original construction or one of its early upgrades, occasionally moves between floors without occupants or registered calls.
The pattern as employees describe it is specific: the car will start at one floor, travel to another, open its doors to an empty corridor, pause briefly, then close and continue to a third floor. Some staff have witnessed the doors open in front of them with no one inside; others have heard the elevator running on weekend evenings when the building is closed.
No specific historical incident is connected to the elevator or to the building. Crosby County's history includes the kinds of judicial proceedings any active county courthouse hosts, and a courthouse fire is not part of the building's documented record. Staff note the phenomenon and tend to describe it as routine rather than alarming, the kind of building quirk that becomes part of local employment lore without rising to formal investigation.
Whether the activity reflects mechanical irregularity in a century-old building system, electrical interference, or something else has not been formally examined. The building's continued service as an active government office means investigations have not been undertaken; the courthouse functions, the elevator works, and the after-hours travel patterns are accepted as part of the workplace.
The courthouse remains an active county government building. Public lobbies and corridors can be visited during weekday business hours. The Neo-Classical exterior, with its four-column portico and triangular pediment, is photographable from the surrounding square at any time.
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