Courtesy Jerry Bearden
Courtesy Jerry Bearden
Courtesy Jerry Bearden
Courtesy Jerry Bearden
Courtesy of Jerry Bearden
State and local officials are already discussing plans to rebuild the 111-year-old Mason County Courthouse, which a fire nearly destroyed on Thursday. Officials suspected arson as the cause.
The interior of the three-story structure in Mason, a town about 100 miles northwest of Austin, was completely gutted. Only exterior walls were left standing.
No records were destroyed they had been removed before restoration work began but some antique furniture was lost in the blaze. The restoration project was funded with $4 million grant from the Texas Historical Commission, or THC.
Mason County Courthouse Burns to the Ground
MASON, TX In Mason County Thursday night, the historic courthouse burned to the ground. News of the fully engulfed fire reached us at around 10:15 p.m.
The structure appears in live videos presented by locals as a complete loss. Hill Country Sports Network reporter Justin Fisher told us that firefighters from the area, including units from Mason Volunteer Fire Department, Rochelle VFD, Brady VFD, and Lohn VFD responded to the fire in downtown Mason.
The fire was knocked down at least externally at around midnight.
The courthouse was built starting in 1909 and completed in 1910 at the cost of $39,786. It was designed by German-born architect Edward Columbus Hosford. The structure was on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure was renovated in 2012 with a new roof and electrical wiring. This is the third courthouse for Mason County. The first structure was built in 1872 but burned in 1877. The next year, a second