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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Texas Country Courthouses

It's pretty easy driving the backroads in Texas since the speed limit is 70 m.p.h. And the scenery in the hill country from Austin north to the Oklahoma border makes it quite worthwhile. We stopped at several county seats along the way and I took a few pictures of the county courthouses.

I suppose you could get a pretty good education in Texas History just by driving from seat to seat and reading each of the markers that are located near the courthouses.

Here are a few of the prettier and more interesting:

Bell County, County Seat - Belton.
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That's Peter Hansbough Bell, the 3rd governor of Texas on the left. There is a memorial to the Confederate war dead on one corner and on another there is one for the 143 Infantry Regiment from World War II.

Lampasas County, County Seat - Lampasas.
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Note the Lone Star on the top. There are several historic markers. One tells the story of the county. Another tells the story of the gunfight at the Lampasas Saloon in January of 1873. Another fills us in on the Horrell-Higgins feud. There are several more!

Hamilton County, County Seat - Hamilton.
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Clay County, County Seat - Henrietta.
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Obviously, this is cattle country.

While you're in some of these towns, be sure to look around for another Texas sign of Texas heritage, the local murals. Here are a couple from Henrietta.
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