Famous American architect OâNeil Ford, who grew up in Denton, admired Dentonâs Courthouse on the Square. He once said: âI was in Denton the other day, and I went over to look at the courthouse again, and I still donât know how they got that blessed thing up.â
Little has been said about Tom Lovell, who built the courthouse. He was born in West Kilbride, Scotland, in 1852. Scottish census records show 18-year-old Tom working as a servant on a farm in 1900. Tom married Theresa Begley in County Armaugh, Ireland, in 1877. They had two sons, Ed and Tom Jr., while they lived in Ireland. Mary, their daughter, was born in 1881 after they moved to Scotland, just before immigrating to the United States. The Lovells moved to Brownwood, Texas, where daughters Sadie, Anne and Teresa were born.