After making my way around most of the United States and Canada to photograph most state and provincial capitol and legislative buildings, and after making my way back to my home state of Texas after spending a couple of years abroad (i.e. Virginia), I needed a new goal. Photographing all 254 of the Lone Star State's county courthouses (including the Dallam County Courthouse in Dalhart, above right) became that goal.

Texans are proud of their courthouses, prouder than any other state's residents are. Sure, beautiful courthouses exist outside of Texas, and many communities' residents are justifiably proud of their particular architectural wonders. But nowhere is that pride as deep and as widespread as it is throughout Texas.

I began photographing courthouses by taking short road trips close to my former Dallas home. Once those courthouses had been visited, I began taking longer trips taking the bulk of a day. Once I have reached the point where I have visited nearly all courthouses within a day's round trip of Dallas, I conveniently moved to Austin and started the whole process over again. I moved to Virginia after photographing 200 out of the state's 254 courthouses, but by February 2004, I had managed to come back to finish the job!

For most counties, I have posted two different photographs of the courthouse. For the more outstanding courthouses, though, such as the courthouses in Denton and McLennan counties, I have posted additional photographs. Also, I have posted extra photographs for counties like Collin in which an older courthouse no longer in use still stands.