A New Deal Courthouse With a Judge Who Never Left
515 Rusk St, Houston, TX 77002
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Federal building — public access to lobbies during court hours only. Security screening required.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved, elevator access
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1962 · New Deal Art · Federal Judiciary · Houston History
The courthouse at 515 Rusk Street anchors the federal legal infrastructure of southeastern Texas, housing the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas with jurisdiction spanning from Houston to Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and Laredo.
The building's most historically significant contents are six murals commissioned under the New Deal's Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture. Dallas artists Jerry Bywaters and Alexandre Hogue spent two years researching the Houston Ship Channel before executing the works, which were presented to the city's Parcel Post Building on July 6, 1941. Sometime in the 1950s the murals were removed and lost. Their rediscovery in the Parcel Post Building basement in 1976 was followed by transfer to the courthouse, where they remain.
U.S. District Judge Woodrow Seals served on the Southern District bench for decades before his death following surgery in October 1990. His chambers occupied the 10th floor of the building. The courthouse was later formally renamed for U.S. Representative Robert R. Casey, who had represented Houston for 14 terms.
The building continues its active judicial function. Security screening is required for entry, and public access beyond the lobby is restricted to those with court business.
Sources
The paranormal accounts at 515 Rusk cluster around a single floor. Judge Woodrow Seals occupied chambers on the 10th level for the duration of his tenure on the Southern District bench. After his death following surgery in October 1990, the chambers remained part of the courthouse's administrative footprint.
Building staff — specifically janitors and security personnel who work the floor after hours — report that the former chambers run measurably colder than surrounding spaces. The smell of cigar smoke drifts through the corridor late at night, though smoking has not been permitted in federal buildings for decades. The same accounts describe doors rattling in their frames when no one is in the hall, and the distinct sensation of being touched on the shoulder or arm when alone.
None of these accounts appear in official records. They circulate among building employees and through local paranormal reporting. The detail that distinguishes these reports from generic haunting lore is its specificity: the cigar smoke linked to a named individual with a known habit, in rooms he specifically occupied, reported by people with no personal interest in promoting the story. Whether that constitutes anything beyond coincidence is a question the courthouse offers no official position on.
Notable Entities
The Bob Casey Federal Courthouse occupies a full block of downtown Houston at 515 Rusk Street. The building houses significant New Deal-era murals by Dallas artists Jerry Bywaters and Alexandre Hogue, rediscovered in 1976 after being removed from the Houston Parcel Post Building in the 1950s. Public access is limited to courthouse business; the 10th floor where the paranormal accounts are concentrated is not publicly accessible.
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