Just over a century after Hill County’s grand 1890 courthouse opened, it burned to the ground. A 1993 fire gutted the modified Second Empire-style edifice designed by noted architect W.C. Dodson. With help from native son and music legend Willie Nelson, the county rebuilt the three-story courthouse topped by a seven-story clock tower. Today it’s the heart of a vibrant downtown with an 1870s rock saloon, a Renaissance-Revival library and reportedly the oldest pharmacy in Texas. Nearby neighborhoods of Queen Anne homes testify to the 19th-century prosperity of this cotton and railroading town. Area history unfolds at the Hill County Cell Block Museum, located near the courthouse in a 1893 county jail. There’s a visitors center in the nearby 1902 Eastlake-Prairie-style Katy Depot. Hill College boasts one of the nation’s top military museums. The Texas Heritage Museum houses more than 16,000 artifacts from the 1830s to the present. Major exhibits explore the Texas revolution, the Civil War, weapons of World War I, Texans at war during World War II and the Vietnam conflict.
Watch the following video to learn more about Hillsboro's historic downtown. This video was produced for inclusion in the Town Square Walk Around mobile tour, more information about which you may find on the Texas Main Street Cities page at the following link: http://texastimetravel.com/travel-themes/main-texas-main-street-cities
