Sherwood Courthouse

Sherwood began to decline when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient bypassed it, the Handbook of Texas says, while Mertzon, on the line, grew. Mertzon was named for M. L. Mertz, a San Angelo banker and railroad director, and the railroad drew businesses there, including two hotels, from Sherwood. In a 1927 election voters chose Mertzon 286 to 231, but Sherwood stayed the seat because a two-thirds vote was needed for a change. In 1936 Mertzon won 453 to 222, and in 1937 the Work Projects Administration helped pay for a new courthouse.

What the plaque says

(Built 1900-1901) First permanent courthouse for Irion County, locally organized 1889. Replaced temporary housing in several buildings. Site was gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ripley. Contractors: Martin and Moody. Stone was quarried nearby. Courthouse was used for dances, teachers' institutes, community events; yard, for summer socials. Enclosed to keep out grazing stock, approach was by a stile over fence beside which were water troughs and hitching posts for teams and saddle horses. A 1936 election made Mertzon county seat. Once pride of area, this is now a community center. (1971)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Angelo State Park — 21 mi
  A 7,677-acre park around O.C. Fisher Reservoir on the edge of San Angelo, where four Texas landscapes meet and the state's official longhorn herd grazes beside a bison paddock.
• Concho River Walk — 24 mi
  Four miles of lit trails along the North Concho through downtown San Angelo, rebuilt after voters taxed themselves in 2004, with gardens, sculpture, a river stage and stocked trout.
• Fort Concho National Historic Landmark — 25 mi
  The stone post at the forks of the Concho, headquarters of the Tenth Cavalry from 1875 to 1882, saved by a woman with a museum and now a city-run landmark of 23 original buildings.
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts — 25 mi
  A free art museum on the Concho beside Fort Concho, founded in the fort's 1868 quartermaster building and known nationally for its biennial ceramics competition.

More markers nearby

• Irion County — 1.1 mi
• Dove Creek Battle — 2.1 mi
• Knickerbocker Schools — 10 mi
• Knickerbocker — 10 mi