Save the Fayette County Precinct Courthouse in Round Top

To the Editor:

In 1968, Richard L. (Dick) Proenneke built a log cabin from hand tools in the Twin Lakes area of Alaska from logs he had harvested the year before. For 30 years, Dick lived in the picturesque wilderness of what is now known as Lake Clark National Park, while having supplies dropped in as needed by bush pilots that became lifelong friends. An avid hunter, fisherman, and conservationist, Proenneke witnessed what irresponsible behavior and waste can do to an area that had once been virtually untouched by man. This lack of respect some visitors held of the area, caused Dick to handcraft a sign that hung in his cabin that read “Is it proper that the wilderness and it’s creatures should suffer because we came?” Proenneke’s pondering quote is the perfect analogy for the current situation in Round Top.

In an area known nationwide for having one of the largest antique and collectible shows in the country, perhaps the largest antique in the county is under threat of demolition. That antique is the historic Fayette County Precinct Courthouse also known as the Round Top Town Hall. Built in 1925, the building is a notable feature in the center of the square in Round Top. Through the decades it has become an integral part of the greater Round Top area’s culture and history. After all, it sits on the revered La Bahia Trail, hallowed ground in Texas to those who “Remember the Alamo.” Round Top area residents can be proud that Joel W. Robison, one Round Top’s forefather’s, captured Mexican dictator Santa Anna. Robison received Santa Anna’s gold braided vest as a gift from the dictator for allowing him to ride to General Sam Houston on horseback. In the years following it was customary for bridegrooms in and around the Round Top area to wear Santa Anna’s Vest on their wedding day. If all this interwoven history around the birth of Texas were not enough, the Round Top Precinct Courthouse sits smack-dab in the middle of it all. That alone deserves tremendous respect from all Texans. And with the 250th birthday of our nation almost upon us, I would argue that demolishing the historic Round Top Courthouse would be downright un-American.

When Round Top Mayor Judith Vincent revealed the possibility of the Courthouse being demolished, albeit saving the wood for the “new” courthouse, it just did not add up. Why would the Round Top City Council and Mayor table such a disrespectful option as even a possibility? What is their motivation? Surely it can’t be because they feel it would be a more fiscally responsible option. To check that notion, I reached out to a Fayette County generational builder (who asked to remain anonymous.) He emphatically replied, “no way” to my question,” Could the Round Top Courthouse be rebuilt cheaper from scratch than renovating it as it sits? He stated that rebuilding that structure to modern code at today’s labor and material cost would be quite expensive. This did not include the labor of careful demolition to “reuse the old lumber” as Mayor Vincent claims a “rebuild” of a new structure would feature. The time required to perform the task of removing boards, pulling nails, while being careful to preserve the lumber, would be costly indeed. If this was not enough, storing century old wood for reuse in the often-volatile weather extremes we have here in South Central Texas is always a challenge. When I asked the builder about Balloon Frame construction, he stated there was” nothing wrong with it,” and in fact it was very strong with its “basket weave” design that required true craftsmen to assemble during construction. A Fine Home Building article published May 6, 2024, states Balloon framing required “Meticulous planning and precise execution. Builders crafted stud patterns, precutting and notching each piece before assembly, akin to weaving a basket.” In addressing the fire safety issue in balloon framing, fire blocks are often added to the long studs during renovations and could easily be installed in the Round Top Courthouse during preservation.

Mayor Vincent’s statement in the Feb. 7 issue of The Fayette County Record that “It’s a very special little structure, but unfortunately it hasn’t been taken care of in 100 years” is quite disrespectful to the generations of past citizens and officials that took care of the courthouse. This includes the DYD or “Do-Your-Duty” Club of Round Top, whose history is synonymous with the historic courthouse for 90 years of its existence. Generations of ladies raised funds though the DYD club in Round Top, to help with the maintenance and preservation of the courthouse among other civic services. There are records of DYD donations in the thousands to the city over the years earmarked for the preservation of the Courthouse and its grounds. Mayor Vincent’s comment that it “hasn’t been taken care of in 100 years” is easily disproved with one’s own eyes. The courthouse is far from derelict status. In fact, during 2024’s Round Top Christmas Parade celebrations, Christmas cookies were handed out inside the courthouse to multitudes of children that were there for the celebrations. Surely if the courthouse was “a building in very bad shape” as Mayor Vincent declared, she would not have allowed that to occur for fear of a safety and liability issue considering how many citizens and their families were at risk of injury or death had that been the case. To that point, the Round Top Town Council’s meeting is held at the courthouse monthly and up until a couple of years ago, citizens voted there before the polling place was changed for more space and parking.

The historic Fayette County Precinct Courthouse in Round Top deserves to be preserved for future generations of citizens to admire and enjoy. Round Top in recent years has suffered from a fate of speculative values on properties that has priced out many of the generational citizens of the town. Some of them have moved outside of the city limits because they cannot afford to live there. They have been forced to sit back and watch as their town and the entire area change before their eyes. Those of us who have Round Top addresses, but do not reside in the city limits have similar experiences. It is a form of disenfranchisement implemented by newcomers moving to the area who have a vision of what they want the town and area to be instead of embracing it for what it is through honoring its true culture and history. The decisions of Mayor Vincent and the town council effects much more than the city limits of Round Top. Imagine being invited to Mayor Vincent’s Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 25, while listening to her tell the audience the very courthouse that is close to their hearts, the one where parent’s and grandparent’s carried them inside as children, where they chased fireflies on the courthouse lawn on summer nights, or cheered the Round Top Brass Band on to Stars and Stripes Forever, is at stake for possible demolition. It is the ultimate gut punch, and they feel they are powerless to stop it from happening.

Mayor Vincent and the Round Top Town Council should be ashamed of themselves for even entertaining the idea. Mayors and council members come and go. They are public servants, not public masters. Are we going to allow them to make an irrevocable decision to destroy one of the last three remaining Fayette County Precinct Courthouses? I should hope not. The Round Top Courthouse needs to be on the Registry of Historic Places and doing so would protect it in the future. Perhaps something such as a Greater Round Top Area Advisory Board needs to be established whose representatives have ancestral stock in the area with only second generation residents and above seated as representatives.

Finally, when my wife and I first visited this area about 30 years ago, we could only dream of living here. When we purchased land here in 2016, it was to leave the suburbs of DFW behind forever. While living in North Texas, we saw the pastures, cattle and serenity evaporate as rural towns were transformed into faux “historic” buildings akin to an amusement park town center. If that is what you want, there are plenty of choices to pick from outside of every major city in Texas. As our founding fathers knew, some things are worth fighting for. Fayette County is one of them, as is the historic Fayette County Precinct Courthouse in Round Top, Texas. Dick Proenneke’s lamentation may pose the question best with slight changes to the wording “Is it proper that Round Top and its history, culture and citizens should suffer because we came?” I think not.

Mark Neeley Round Top