A New Deal Courthouse With a Judge Who Never Left
515 Rusk St, Houston, TX 77002
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.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Plainview, TX
The Old Hilton Hotel in Plainview, Texas opened on July 3, 1929 — the sixth hotel built by Conrad Hilton, with 125 rooms, a ballroom, and private dining rooms. It left the Hilton chain in 1946, closed in 1983, and sat abandoned for more than thirty years. In 2020 it reopened as Conrad Lofts, a 29-unit affordable housing development.
Adamsville, AL
Bottenfield Middle School, now known as Minor Middle School, operates as a comprehensive middle school in Adamsville's Jefferson County school system. The facility serves grades 6-8 and is located on Hillcrest Road. The school's construction and operation reflect standard educational infrastructure of mid-to-late twentieth century development.
Tucson, AZ
Bloom Elementary School operates as an active educational facility in Tucson, Arizona's Pima County school system. Located at 8310 East Pima Street, the school serves kindergarten through fifth-grade students. A female principal's death at the school is the reported source of the paranormal activity.