Courthouse

Hidalgo County Courthouse (1886)

Hidalgo · Hidalgo County · Dedicated 1886 · THC Atlas #4302000101

The stone-and-brick heart of every Texas county.

Marker Inscription

Two-story buff brick building with a wood balconette over the entry door and a slender central tower surrounded by a wood balustrade.

About this site

Hidalgo County Courthouse (1886) is a courthouse in Hidalgo, Hidalgo County, dedicated in 1886. It is one of 236 historic sites cataloged in Hidalgo County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas.

The site sits at 26.0997, -98.2627 near Hidalgo. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hidalgo Post Office, Former (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Hidalgo Irrigation Pump Plant, Hidalgo County Jail, Old, and Hidalgo County Courthouse, Old.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #4302000101. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.

History

Hidalgo County's first courthouse rose in the river town of Hidalgo in 1886, after Rio Grande flooding destroyed the original county buildings and a bond election funded a replacement. Designed by Brownsville architect Samuel W. Brooks, the two-story, symmetrical brick building was raised by master mason Juan Rios using handmade bricks fired at a ladrillera across the border in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. A January 1920 fire forced removal of the second floor, roof tower and cupola, and the county seat had already shifted to Chapin (later Edinburg), leaving the structure behind. The Old Hidalgo Courthouse and Buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and are being restored under Texas Historical Commission supervision.

Sources: sah-archipedia.org texasescapes.com atlas.thc.texas.gov

📍 26.0997, -98.2627 · Hidalgo, Hidalgo County

Directions (Apple)Google Maps View map

Get Texas Roam — all 28,000 sites in your pocket

See this site and every marker, cemetery, courthouse, museum and landmark across Texas on one live map — find what's near you, get directions, and check in as you roam.

or open the live map in your browser →Free · ad-free · the iOS app and the web map share one account, so your visits sync across both

Nearby in Hidalgo County

Historical Marker

Hidalgo Post Office, Former

Hidalgo · 1965

Historical Marker

Hidalgo Irrigation Pump Plant

Hidalgo · 1991

Historical Marker

Hidalgo County Jail, Old

Hidalgo · 1984

Historical Marker

Hidalgo County Courthouse, Old

Hidalgo · 1964

Museum

Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Museum and World Birding Center

Approximate Site of Mission San Joaquin