2024-6-23 Drive Home Day 1 DSC_2419 (Potter County Courthouse)
Potter County was organized in 1876, and named Robert Potter, who moved from North Carolina to Texas, settling in the Marshall area, in 1835 after assaulting (evidently castrating?!) two men whom he accused of having an affair with his wife.
A former member of the North Carolina House of Commons, he continued his political career in Texas, and was a signer of the Texas Constitution and served as the Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas. He was rather dramatically killed during a feud known as the Regulator-Moderator War, or the Shelby County War, in 1842.
The county seat of Amarillo was originally name Oneida. It was founded in April of 1887 by J. I. Berry on a section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, and was named the county seat after an election in August of 1887.
In 1888, Henry B. Sanborn and Joseph F. Glidden began purchasing land to the east of Berry's land, eventually convincing townspeople to move to their preferred location.
By the late 1890s, Amarillo was one of the busiest cattle shipping sites in the US.
The 1932 Art Deco courthouse, which is seven stories high, is the county's fifth courthouse, and cost $420,000 ($9,245,756 in today's money) to build. The original county library building is also on the grounds.
2024-6-23 Drive Home Day 1 DSC_2419 (Potter County Courthouse)
Potter County was organized in 1876, and named Robert Potter, who moved from North Carolina to Texas, settling in the Marshall area, in 1835 after assaulting (evidently castrating?!) two men whom he accused of having an affair with his wife.
A former member of the North Carolina House of Commons, he continued his political career in Texas, and was a signer of the Texas Constitution and served as the Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas. He was rather dramatically killed during a feud known as the Regulator-Moderator War, or the Shelby County War, in 1842.
The county seat of Amarillo was originally name Oneida. It was founded in April of 1887 by J. I. Berry on a section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, and was named the county seat after an election in August of 1887.
In 1888, Henry B. Sanborn and Joseph F. Glidden began purchasing land to the east of Berry's land, eventually convincing townspeople to move to their preferred location.
By the late 1890s, Amarillo was one of the busiest cattle shipping sites in the US.
The 1932 Art Deco courthouse, which is seven stories high, is the county's fifth courthouse, and cost $420,000 ($9,245,756 in today's money) to build. The original county library building is also on the grounds.