LIFE AFTER ONE HUNDRED

The Old Blanco County Courthouse’s service to official county business lasted only four short years before a neighboring community won the county seat. But the historic courthouse continues to serve Blanco County citizens today, providing a home for the structure’s preservation society, the Blanco visitor center, a popular film location, site for Blanco Market Days, and a reminder of Blanco’s frontier past. The Second Empire style limestone courthouse, designed and built by the Ruffini brothers (popular 19th century courthouse designers and builders), provided space for a school, a hospital, a bank, a museum, and a restaurant after its short turn as county seat. The Old Blanco County Courthouse Preservation Society, a private, non-profit corporation organized for the express purpose of saving the courthouse, started work in 1986 to purchase and renovate the important architectural gem. By 1998, the building was rededicated and reopened as the Old Blanco County Courthouse. The society’s success can be seen in the National Historic Landmark’s renovations, both interior and out, and the careful consideration given to maintaining the structure’s historical and architectural significance. Efforts to restore the original roof design, a flourish of mansard cupolas once crowning each of the four entries, continues.