A decorative squirrel will represent Parker County’s history at Austin museum
A decorative squirrel will represent Parker County and the history of its courthouse at an exhibit in Austin for the next eight months.
Parker County Commissioners in late March approved the loan of a decorative carved squirrel to the Bullock Texas State History Museum for its “Texas Courthouse Architecture” exhibit. The squirrel was a ceiling hook part of the chandelier in the upstairs court of the iconic building in Weatherford, which was built in 1886. Local historian Bill Warren presented the item to commissioners, explaining that the squirrel was discovered during the installation of air conditioning upstairs.
The exhibition will feature artifacts from 13 county courthouses across the state that were renovated through the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. The program was created in 1999 with the aim of helping counties fund the restoration of their courthouses — pieces of architecture in Texas that are of the most recognizable and oldest on the local level. But the majority of county courthouses were built between 1880 and 1900 and then after World War I, making the buildings vulnerable to time’s damage, according to Kathryn Siefker, a senior curator at the Bullock.
“The courthouse is frequently, especially in a smaller town, the biggest, most impressive building in town,” Siefker said. “You always know when you have driven into a county seat because there’s this giant, beautiful building in the middle of the town square.”
Wesley Clark Dodson, of Waco, designed the Parker County Courthouse in 1886. The exterior of the courthouse was restored in the early 90s. The building’s original interior — including one of the largest courtrooms in the state, a decorative wall, ceiling paintings, small wood balconies and patterned floor coverings — were restored in the early 2000s through the Texas Historical Commission’s program. The building, which pulls one’s focus when driving into downtown Weatherford, was rededicated in June 2005.
Since its start, the program has restored 107 courthouses across the state and spent $400 million on the projects altogether. Beyond restoring original features of courthouses, the program assists counties in bringing old buildings up to modern standards.
The exhibit is expected to open in early June. Other items featured in the exhibit include a painting of the Parker County Courthouse by Janet Campbell, a melted bell and the inner workings of a courthouse clock from Mason County, a piece of the original limestone capital in the Fannin County Courthouse, an original courthouse eagle sculpture from McLennan County and the hand-painted ceiling tile from the DeWitt County Courthouse, which was done by volunteers during the restoration.
