Judge Matt Johnson of Waco’s 54th State District Court inherited a love of history from his father, Derwood Johnson, a McLennan County state district judge, justice of the peace and county court-at-law judge for 32 years.

Matt Johnson, a former justice of the peace himself who took the district court bench in January 2007, frequently speaks at civic club luncheons or other events on the history of McLennan County.

As a result, Johnson put together a presentation about the history of the 107-year-old McLennan County Courthouse after researching county records, newspaper archives, materials from the Texas Collection at Baylor University and other sources.

Here is Judge Matt Johnson’s Top 10 Interesting Things about the McLennan County Courthouse.

1. Original plans called for the eagles on the dome to have electric red lights for eyes.

2. The construction of the courthouse was strongly supported by the Young Men’s Business League, which was the precursor organization to the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.

3. The light marble inside the courthouse used on the interior floors, wainscots and columns is from Kennesaw Marble Co. of Marietta, Ga. The pink granite around the base of the courthouse is from Granite Mountain in Burnet County, Texas.

4. There are three statues atop the courthouse: Themis, the Greek goddess of justice; Lady Justice the Roman goddess of justice; Lady Liberty, the American symbol of liberty.

5. The architect, J. Reily Gordon, was indicted in the early 1890s along with several commissioners from Bexar County over construction of that county’s courthouse.

6. Original plans called for a carriage drive-through under the large front stairs to the main entrance.

7. The county commissioners ordered an election on the question of issuing bonds to construct the courthouse after a petition containing more than 1,500 signatures from taxpaying residents was presented to the commissioners court in February 1900. The original contract price for the new courthouse was $198,000.00. After changes during construction, the contractor was paid $210,241.48.

8. Out of 1,981 votes cast in Waco, only 38 were cast against constructing the courthouse. In the county, excluding the Waco vote, the question failed, getting only 46 percent of the vote.

9. The original plans called for a fountain under the large circular opening in the rotunda. The fountain was to be surrounded by plants and filled with domestic fish.

10. County Clerk Tom Caufield issued the first marriage license at the new courthouse on Oct. 21, 1902, to Frank W. Blair and Dora Curry. The first case heard in District Court: Nettie Bryant vs. Santa Fe Railroad, with Judge J. N. Gallagher presiding.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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