MCKINNEY’S COURTHOUSE SQUARE: THE HEART OF A COMMUNITY, THEN & NOW

by Pat Rodgers

Dusk fell in the little town of McKinney on that dismal Saturday, January 1, 1876. The little village sat under gloomy, threatening clouds with mud and water everywhere on the unpaved streets.

Out in the center of the Court Square, the magnificent and recently completed Collin County Courthouse towered above all the other buildings.

It blazed with coal-burning lamps and hummed with activity. A public ball was planned on this night, celebrating the opening of the finest and most beautiful courthouse in Texas.

The ladies of the town cooked and baked the food. Eight long tables were covered with unbleached domestic linens in preparation for the celebration. Rudolph’s Silver Comet Band tuned up for the entertainment and dancing.

Colorful festoons of Chinese lanterns hung from the ceiling. Long planks were placed on beer kegs around the room for seating and the floor was swept clean, glistening under the lights.

Plank walks were laid for the ladies outside the courthouse. Soon the young people were jostling and laughing as they safely crossed the water-filled mud puddles.

The “Blue Danube” Waltz was requested often, and the little orchestra played it throughout the night. The elite of McKinney and the surrounding county was present and the socialites of Austin came as well. The Secretary of State traveled in a special car on the new railroad, the Houston and Pacific Central.

This fine stone courthouse, commissioned by the Commissioner’s Court, was built in the center of the square. A contract was let to L. J. King for the sum of $49,800; however, by completion the cost was $100,000.

The beautiful French Second Empire style courthouse was the tallest building north of San Antonio. It was sturdy and sound, built with stones from a quarry three miles northeast of McKinney.

In January of 1898, the commissioners erected a stone retaining wall around the courthouse plaza. Mr. H. E. Furr was the contractor and many of his sidewalks and walls are still visible today with a guarantee of 10 years stamped into them.

Mary Boyd gave a large metal fountain which was placed in front of the courthouse, furnishing pure water to both horses and humans. The ladies’ clubs, led by the Edelweiss, engaged a local jeweler, D. Goodin, to place striking clocks on the roof of the courthouse. Those clocks remain there today as a timely reminder of long ago.

In 1927, the Commissioners decided to remodel the original courthouse to acquire more room for the expanding court records. They elected to “modernize” the architectural style of the beautiful old building.

The four-foot wall was dismantled and removed as well as the beautiful and stately old trees. A third floor was added and the original stone was covered with brick. The additional floor doubled the room for the court records.

A courthouse has always played a pivotal role in the gatherings of the early pioneers. Homesteads were scattered in the early years, and it was a great treat for the early settlers to get together.

The focal point of these gatherings was the county courthouse. Here, and all around the square, townsfolk came to meet and greet their neighbors, bid at spirited auctions, watch election results and enjoy dances.

The first log courthouse, a nice two-room cabin, was completed by Christmas of 1849. It stood on the southwest corner of the square and was built of logs cut from trees along East Fork Creek.

To celebrate its completion, a large celebration was held where the McKinney Performing Arts Center sits today. Barbeque was served and the people danced the night away. Festivities lasted two days until a Blue Norther swept through, sending everyone to their wagons for a long, cold trip home.

The beautiful old courthouse of 1876 has adapted, survived and been reinvented. In 2006, it was re-purposed into the McKinney Performing Arts Center, a casual theater hosting plays and other performances. It represents the heart of the Mckinney Cultural District and is McKinney’s identity.

The Cultural District is vibrant with over 120 independently-owned businesses. Generations have shopped, worked, lived and celebrated life’s milestones in the same buildings that today make up the lively downtown.

Since building the first courthouse in 1849, the community still gathers in the square for inspiration, celebration and commemoration. It truly has become the “heart beat of McKinney since 1849”.

To hear more of our story visit and consider membership in the historic 1911 Collin County History Museum at 300 E. Virginia. Open Saturday, 10:00 – 4:00.