DFW Courthouse Square Trail

The county courthouse is the original Texas town center — a grand stone building set on a square, with the streets and shops platted around it. This ambitious driving loop collects the historic courthouses across the Metroplex and its outer ring, from Old Red rising in red sandstone over downtown Dallas to the storybook, gargoyle-trimmed Ellis County Courthouse in Waxahachie that many call the most beautiful in the state. Along the way you'll meet the architects who shaped the look of Texas government — W.C. Dodson, J. Riely Gordon, M.A. Orlopp — and the small-town squares that still gather their communities. It's a long route, best split across a couple of days or sampled by region; every stop is a working or preserved landmark on a walkable square. Bring a camera for the towers, the clocks, and the carved stone details that reward looking up.