Wise County Courthouse

Decatur was laid out as Taylorsville and renamed in January 1858, after Absalom Bishop arranged the change. Wise County's courthouses have burned repeatedly. The first, of 1858, was a sixteen-foot hackberry-board building. A two-story courthouse of 1861 burned on November 26, 1881, and a Second Empire courthouse of 1883 burned on the night of January 12, 1895.

The nomination text published by TexasCourtHouses.com says the fire started a controversy over the county seat, which a November election settled in Decatur's favor. On May 10, 1895, commissioners accepted the plan of J. Riely Gordon of San Antonio, chosen from designs by eight architects, and J. A. White won the construction contract on May 18. The county took delivery on January 1, 1897, though the Texas Time Travel account says the first court sat in December 1896. Texas granite from Burnet forms the walls. Gordon used a Greek cross plan with turrets, dormers and a central tower that held the clock and bell. The nomination says it was similar to, but not identical with, his design for the Ellis County Courthouse.

The interior was remodeled in 1960 and the courtroom balcony was later closed in to make a second courtroom, but the exterior keeps most of its original character. The building is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register. The Handbook of Texas notes that the eastern fork of the Chisholm Trail passed near Decatur, which holds a Chisholm Trail Barbecue each year.