The Erath County Courthouse in Stephenville was built in 1856 and burned in 1866. A second courthouse made of rock was built in 1887. The second one was replaced beginning in 1891. It was during the discussion of building the third courthouse, that the question in Dublin was where should it be built? Dublin was a larger more vibrant town at that time. Dublin had two major Texas highways and two railroads. The discussion turned to having an election to determine if Dublin should be the county seat and to build the new courthouse here. It was in July, 1891 that an election was scheduled. (1890 Stephenville pop. 909, Dublin pop. 2025) Jim Daley, the publisher of the Dublin Progress was still in his late teens at that time. His writings expressed the optimism that the people had.
“If Dublin gets the courthouse she will improve all the faster and in short time will be the star town in this part of the state.” “Dublin would be pleased of course to add a new courthouse to her large list of improvements, but wants it understood that her future prosperity does not depend on it.” (Dublin Progress, July, 18, 1891, p2) Businessmen in town felt that $30,000 dollars could be raised, almost half of the cost of rebuilding. Otherwise the county would be taxed for the $75,000 necessary to build it. That would have been a big boost for the county to have Dublin pick up much of the cost of the structure. (Dublin Progress, July, 18, 1891, p2) He continued “The tax payers of Erath County do not care to foot the bill for a $75,000 courthouse these hard times--not when it can be so nicely avoided.” (Dublin Progress, July 25, 1891 p4) When I was young, the legend was that many Dublin people didn’t want the courthouse because we would have the criminals brought here to stay in jail until their trial. What if they escaped?
Most Texas counties were created so that people could travel round trip to the county courthouse in one day’s ride on horseback or on foot. (Texas Courthouse Renaissance) Dublin is located in the southwest side of the county. If Dublin was to become the county seat, that would mean that people in Bluff Dale would have a long ride to get to the courthouse. For that reason many communities in Erath County voted against moving the courthouse to Dublin.
*** We are so thankful for all the help our many volunteers give to the museum. We have openings available for anyone willing to keep the museum open for visitors or other ways to help.