A county courthouse stands not only as the center of government, but also as the center of civic pride. Some with stately towers and arched doors or windows, some with high brick chimneys and mansard roofs, some in modern concrete and glass, the 254 courthouses of Texas provide an invitation to public life, a testament to the ideal of justice, and an introduction to period architecture. It is no wonder, then, that many tourists each year visit these edifices. This new edition of a classic, indispensable, full-color guide—a true collector’s item for Texas history fans—will help travelers choose which courthouses they want to add to their trips and view them knowledgeably. For each county a color photograph pictures the courthouse and an account sketches the sequence of the seats of government, the location and style of the current building, and tidbits of fascinating lore about county and county seat names and history. Courthouses and the “squares” around many of them offer a bonanza for history buffs, antique collectors, genealogists, architecture enthusiasts, and photographers. Many of them house or are near local history museums, and many display historical markers that introduce the area to visitors. Especially in many smaller county seats, the courthouse square offers a genre scene of a special moment in Texas’ life. Included in this updated edition are the latest views of some of Texas’ most historic and architecturally significant courthouses, including those restored under the Texas Historical Commission’s Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. For all those who plan their travels to see courthouses, and all those who in their travels for other reasons enjoy detours into the heritage and pride of a people, this beautiful and informative book opens the way.

A stunning and comprehensive collection of lithographs from 1818 to 1900 Texas.

Historic Texas Courthouses gives attention to 100 landmark courthouses in Texas.

A collection of illustrated black-and-white engravings depicting the history of Texas from 1554 to 1900 presented chronologically and featuring a brief introduction to the historical background of each era.

T. Boone Pickens, legendary Texas oilman and infamous corporate raider from the 1980s, climbed the steps of the Reeves County courthouse in Pecos, Texas in early November 2016. He entered the solitary courtroom and settled into the witness stand for two days of testimony in what would be the final trial of his life. Pickens, who was 88 by then, had made and lost billions over his long career, but he’d come to Pecos seeking justice from several other oil companies. He claimed they cut him out of what became the biggest oil play he’d ever invested in—in an oil-rich section of far West Texas that was primed for an unprecedented boom. After years of dealing with the media, shareholders and politicians, Pickens would need to win over a dozen West Texas jurors in one last battle. To lead his legal fight, he chose an unlikely advocate—Chrysta Castañeda, a Dallas solo practitioner who had only recently returned to the practice of law after a hiatus borne of disillusionment with big firms. Pickens was a hardline Republican, while Castañeda had run for public office as a Democrat. But they shared an unwavering determination to win and formed a friendship that spanned their differences in age, politics, and gender. In a town where frontier justice was once meted out by Judge Roy Bean—“The Law West of the Pecos”—Pickens would gird for one final courtroom showdown. Sitting through trial every day, he was determined to prevail, even at the cost of his health. The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens is a high-stakes courtroom drama told through the eyes of Castañeda. It’s the story of an American business legend still fighting in the twilight of his long career, and the lawyer determined to help him make one final stand for justice.

This eclectic collection pulls together some of the best presentations made at the North American Print Conference held in Austin, Texas. Focusing on the printing arts in Texas, this group of leading scholars and authorities covered a wide range of subjects from early lithography and photography in Texas to today's armadillo posters and T-shirts. The high arts and popular culture alike are treated in this broad overview of prints and printmaking on the Texas frontier and in its urban centers. Contributors: * R. Pearce-Moses, "From Niépce to Now: Thirty Million Photographs in Texas" * R. Cox, "Dust Bowl Realism: Texas Printmakers and the FSA Photographers of the Great Depression" * F. Carraro, "Jerry Bywaters: A Texas Printmaker" * D. Farmer, "The Printmakers Guild and Women Printmakers in Texas, 1939-1965" * P. H. Brink, "The Galveston That Was: Requiem or Inspiration?" * N. Jacobson, "Armadillos, Peccadilloes, and the Maverick Posterists of Austin, Texas" * J. H. Fox, "TexStyle Art: The Evolution of Quality Silkscreened Imagery upon T-Shirts in Austin, Texas, 1968-1988" * K. B. Ragsdale, "W. D. Smithers: Pictorial Chronicler of the Big Bend Country of Texas" * B. Huseman, "The Beginnings of Lithography in Texas" * K. J. Adams, "Texas Impressions: Graphic Arts and the Republic of Texas, 1836-1845" * J. P. McGuire and D. Haynes, "William DeRyee, Carl G. von Iwonski, and Homeography, a Printing Process" * C. Brandimarte, "Immaterial Girls: Prints of Pageantry and Dance, 1900-1936" * R. Flukinger, "The Panoramic Photography of E. O. Goldbeck"