1905 Beaux Arts Courthouse in Corsicana, Texas
300 W 3rd Ave, Corsicana, TX 75110
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active public courthouse accessible during business hours. No admission fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved courthouse grounds with interior access
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1905 · Beaux Arts Architecture · Texas Courthouse Heritage · Navarro County History
Navarro County was organized in 1846 and Corsicana became its county seat. The present courthouse was completed in 1905 to designs by architect James E. Flanders, who produced a Beaux Arts structure that remains the governmental center of the county.
The building houses the offices of Navarro County's elected officials and judiciary, including the District Clerk's Office on the upper floors. The law library draws attorneys and researchers during evening hours, which is the context for most of the building's paranormal accounts.
The historical legend attached to the building involves a shooting death on the courthouse steps: the District Clerk was reportedly shot by the County Sheriff following a political dispute. This specific historical event has not been confirmed in accessible newspaper archives or court records. The absence of confirmation does not disprove the event — courthouse political disputes in the late 19th or early 20th century were not uniformly documented in surviving records — but limits its classification to local lore rather than verified history.
Sources
The accounts from the Navarro County Courthouse are specific to a time and location: late night, the stairs descending from the third and second floors, and the area near the District Clerk's Office. Attorneys working the law library after hours and other late-working county employees have noted the footsteps without being able to identify their source.
The consistent location of the sound — descending through the floors rather than ascending, confined to the upper portions of the stairwell — has generated the working theory that the figure is someone who died at or near the building and continues to move through it. The political shooting on the courthouse steps is the story most commonly attached to these accounts.
Whether the shooting actually occurred has not been confirmed through accessible archival research. Courthouse-steps political shootings in Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were not uncommon — the state has documented cases of such events — but the specific Navarro County incident has not been independently verified in the sources consulted.
Notable Entities
The Navarro County Courthouse is a 1905 Beaux Arts building designed by architect James E. Flanders, serving as the active seat of Navarro County government. Visitors can view the exterior architecture and explore publicly accessible interior areas during business hours. The third-floor stairs and the District Clerk's Office are associated with the building's paranormal tradition.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Brady, TX
The McCulloch County Courthouse in Brady, Texas was completed in 1900 by contractors Martin and Moodie on the site of an 1879 courthouse that developed structural failure within two years. The present three-story building was designed in the Richardson Romanesque style with native local sandstone, featuring a Victorian cupola, flanking turrets, and arched windows. A 2004-2009 restoration culminated in rededication on September 5, 2009.
Fort Worth, TX
The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District developed around the 1902 establishment of the Fort Worth Stockyards Company on the Trinity River north of downtown. At peak operation in the early 20th century, the facility processed millions of cattle and hogs annually, making Fort Worth one of the largest livestock markets in the Southwest.
Carrizo Springs, TX
The Dimmit County Courthouse in Carrizo Springs, Texas, is a layered structure: an 1884 Italianate building by J.C. Breeding and Sons, enclosed in 1926 by a Classical Revival remodel designed by Henry T. Phelps. The courthouse remains the seat of Dimmit County government and was restored under the Texas Historical Commission's courthouse preservation program.