Dallas County Courthouse

Address
Houston and Commerce Sts.
Website
The listed website appears to be offline (checked Oct 2026).

About Dallas County Courthouse

The Dallas County Courthouse, built in 1892 of red sandstone with rusticated marble accents, is a historic governmental building located at 100 South Houston Street in Dallas, Texas. Four of five previous courthouse structures were destroyed by fire. Also known as the Old Red Courthouse, it became the Old Red Museum, a local history museum, in 2007. In 2021, it was announced that the Old Red Museum would be moving out and that the building would again be a hall of justice. The Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals moved into Old Red in 2024.

It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture by architect Max A. Orlopp Jr. of the Little Rock, Arkansas based firm Orlopp & Kusener. Four of five previous courthouse structures were destroyed by fire, which is one reason why the building was constructed using masonry and cubic stone.

In 1904, the famed prohibition activist Carrie Nation gave a fiery lecture on temperance inside one of the courtrooms, attracting a crowd that overflowed into the hallways.

In 1910, the courthouse was the site of the lynching of Allen Brooks. President John F. Kennedy's motorcade passed the courthouse minutes before his assassination on November 22, 1963.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Founded
1892
Architect
Orlopp and Kusener

More museums in Dallas →Best museums in Texas →

Photos of Dallas County Courthouse

  1. Dallas County Courthouse, Dallas01DallasLeaflet · CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. Old Red Museum January 2016 03 (Early Years Gallery)02Old Red Museum January 03 (Early Years Gallery)Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. Old Red Museum January 2016 07 (Big "D" Gallery)03Old Red Museum January 07 (Big "D" Gallery)Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. Dallas - Old Red Museum04Dallas - Old Red MuseumJoe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. Dallas - Old Red Museum05Dallas - Old Red MuseumJoe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
  6. Reunion Tower and Old Red Courthouse06Reunion Tower and Old Red CourthouseBarry · CC BY 2.0

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Nearby museums

Make a day of it. 4 more museums are within a mile of Dallas County Courthouse; the closest, Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture, is practically next door.