100 Weatherford Street

Duration: 0:15:13

Year Published: 1970s

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: This government film documents the history of the Tarrant County Courthouse as well as its significance to the people of Tarrant County and Fort Worth, the county seat. Interviews with relatives of the building’s original brainchild, Judge Robert Johnson, are included. By the turn of the 19th century, Fort Worth had become a major center for commerce. To better serve the growing community, a larger courthouse was needed. The current Tarrant County Courthouse was completed in 1895. Modeled after the Texas State Capitol in Austin, the building is made of pink and built in the Renaissance Revival style. Locals were so outraged by the building’s cost, however, that they elected an entirely new Tarrant County Commissioners Court in 1894. Public opinion soon turned, with the courthouse eventually becoming the “prize of Tarrant County.” The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.