Hood County Courthouse Historic District

The Hood County Courthouse Historic District is a historic courthouse complex in Granbury centered on a main square surrounded by Victorian-era buildings made from native limestone. The ensemble includes the courthouse, opera house, bank buildings, and commercial structures all facing the central plaza.

The courthouse square developed in the 1870s and 1880s as the town center, with the courthouse building itself completed in 1891. Recognition as a National Register of Historic Places site in 1974 established it as the first courthouse square in Texas to receive this designation.

The courthouse square preserves the essence of a 19th-century small town, where shops, banks, and the opera house grew around the central government building. Residents and visitors still use the square today as a gathering place, much as people once did when conducting business and meeting neighbors.

The district is freely accessible and can be visited at any time, with most buildings visible from the outside on the square. For interior access to specific buildings, plan your visit during regular business hours and ask locally about available tours or open areas.

The courthouse clock tower contains original mechanisms from its initial construction, preserving rare details of period timekeeping technology. Inside the building, several bank vault doors display hand-painted decorative designs that reveal how craftspeople of the era personalized functional objects.

Location: Texas

Location: Granbury

Architects: Wesley Clark Dodson

Architectural style: Victorian architecture

Address: Courthouse Sq., bounded by Bridge, Pearl, and Houston Sts.

GPS coordinates: 32.44250,-97.78361

Latest update: December 14, 2025 11:23