In June 1870 a young attorney arrived in Greenville. T. D. Montrose wrote that when he first saw the courthouse, it was a two-story brick structure, much shackled and dilapidated with dimensions of about 40 feet by 40 feet. It stood in the center of the public square with no sidewalks in sight.
According to local tradition, the courthouse was damaged by a storm early in the morning of June 18, 1870.
The Commissioners Court met that afternoon in special session to authorize Edmond Joe Darden to purchase materials to make repairs. At the regular meeting in July the Commissioners appointed a committee of five to “draw up a draft for a new courthouse for Hunt County”.
The committee was also asked to determine how much it would cost to tear down the old structure and build a new one as well as examine the financial condition of the county.
The commissioners repaired the courthouse for four more years. They stopped the practice of hitching horses to the courthouse fence. Shade trees were bought and planted. A new roof was added in 1871. That year, in an attempt to straighten the walls, the commissioners tied the structure with hog chains and pulled it with oxen. Did it work? I have no idea, but I understand from talking to old-timers years ago, that the process did work sometimes.
Later a cistern was built at a cost of $21.28. A chimney was added in 1872. The following year a new floor was laid on the lower story, walls were white-washed, lead added to the roof and the building was guttered so water could be carried to the cistern.
In March 1874 the sheriff was told to clear out the east hallway and provide suitable steps there.
Finally, on September 8, 1874 the Commissioners’ Court condemned the 1858 courthouse and set in motion the process of building a new one.
First, they bought the Methodist Church located (where Uptown Forum is today) for temporary space. The church in turn bought the old courthouse for lumber and materials and moved to Wesley Street. The costs came close to balancing out. D. P. Smith of Pittsburg made the lowest bid of $35,600. W. C. Dodson was hired as architect for $1226. The new red brick building with white stone trim accented by sharp eaves and cornices could be seen from a distance on the rolling prairie. It was completed in July 1883 at a cost of $40,000.
Fortunately, and probably the most important fact about all the Hunt County Courthouses, is that this new building had two steel vaults. No records were ever, ever, destroyed by fire.
But the building was destroyed a little over a year later on August 17, 1884. A horrendous fire starting at the Ende Hotel, at the southeast corner of Washington and Johnson Streets, destroyed half of the south side of the square, all of the west side, part of the southwest corner and the elegant new courthouse.
All the records were saved thanks to the new steel vaults. Thanks to the wisdom of the Commissioners Court $29,000 in insurance was collected, almost enough to replace the building with a very similar structure.
T. D. Montrose remained in Greenville for the remainder of his life. He became District Judge for a while before he died in 1916.