Hidalgo County was created on January 24, 1852. On the banks of the Rio Grande, this building served as the Hidalgo County Courthouse from its construction in 1886. It sat in the city now known as Hidalgo. At that time the city was named Edinburgh (not to be confused with the present day city of Edinburg some twenty miles to the north).
On October 14, 1908, an ox train led by armed men forcibly moved the courthouse to a patch of land presently known as the City of Edinburg but first named Chapin. This wooden structure was the first permanent structure built to serve as a courthouse in Edinburg. During it's construction, county officials conducted business in tents. In the 1908 photo shown, town lots for sale were laid out on a plat map painted on a fabric hung across one end of the courthouse.
This photo shows some members of the so called "Baker machine" who orcestrated the election and subsequent removal of the county seat from the town of Hidalgo to present day Edinburg. From left to right, A.Y. Baker, Walter M. Dougherty, John Closner, and D.B. Chapin. James J. Closner is in the auto. Are the "boss rule" days gone in Hidalgo County?
The first wooden structure courthouse in Edinburg was replaced in 1910 with this picturesque stucco structure. It remained the center of county government until 1954 when the present day courthouse (shown below) was built.
2 comments:
And the time to rebuild is way over due! Don't you think Rep.
Now we have a beautiful City Hall sitting a few blocks from an old Courthouse. No money to rebuit...a wall scrubing would help.
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