Milam County Courthouse and Jail

Milam County was created in 1836 and named for Benjamin R. Milam, killed in San Antonio on December 5, 1835. At its creation, the state marker says, it held one-sixth of Texas's original land area, now divided among 54 counties or parts of them. The Legislature authorized Cameron as county seat on April 4, 1846. After courthouses at Caldwell and Cameron, a brick courthouse of 1876 was declared unsafe by a grand jury in 1889.

Its replacement is a Renaissance Revival building of local stone designed by Larmour and Watson of Austin, with Lee and Plummer as contractors. The cornerstone was dedicated July 4, 1891, and the building was accepted in April 1892. A clock tower topped by a statue of Justice was added in the 1890s and taken down in the 1930s, with a new tower and statue raised in a restoration in the early 2000s. The courthouse still serves the county.

The jail stands nearby. The Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis built it in 1895 of St. Louis pressed brick in Romanesque Revival style, three stories with turret-like corners. The first floor held the sheriff's family home, and the upper floors held the cells. Its hanging tower with a trap door was never used for executions. A new jail replaced it in 1975, and the county historical commission opened it as a museum in 1978. Both buildings are on the National Register. The Texas Historical Commission lists museum hours Thursday to Saturday, 10 to 3.