The courthouse was designed by Lang & Witchell, and was constructed in 1912.[3] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1988.[4]
Detail of Confederate monument at Cooke County Courthouse.
On the lawn of the courthouse stands a monolith topped by a 1911 statue of a Confederate soldier. The inscription at the base of the statue reads, “no nation rose so white and fair none fell so pure of crime” in a statement typical of Confederate monuments that minimized the human impact of slavery and romanticized the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.[5] In 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the removal of Confederate statues across the United States, Cooke County Commissioners voted to retain the statue outside the courthouse.[6][7] Protesters advocating against the statue were later sentenced to prison time for "obstructing a highway".[8] The protesters petitioned their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, who in 2024 declined to review the case.[9]
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)