The Temple of Justice -
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The Temple of Justice
The “Temple of Justice” is what people in Kleberg County called their new county courthouse back in 1915 when it was first completed. Kingsville is the county seat for Kleberg County. Other communities in the new county had hoped to become the county seat, but the population center, Kingsville, won out. Kleberg County was formed out of Nueces County in 1913. Folks in Kingsville were quick to make plans for the construction of their new Courthouse.
The old Kingsville Record newspapers are full of details on plans and construction of the Courthouse. The hallways have beautiful gray marble wainscot. The county seal is set in tile in the center of the Courthouse. The offices and courtrooms were described by the newspaper. The newspaper also went into some detail to describe the very modern new jail on the third floor of the Courthouse. The jail had all the modern conveniences; toilet and bath facilities, steal reinforced concrete walls. It would be a truly civilized place to house the alleged criminal element awaiting trial in the new “Temple of Justice”. There was a big celebration at the opening of our Courthouse.
The Courthouse was roomy enough so that when the Henrietta King High School burned down in 1925 it was used for temporary class rooms. Classes were held in the court rooms, the jury rooms, and even the basement. 1925 was a difficult year, but the school was quickly rebuilt and Courthouse life returned to normal by 1926.
We don’t seem to pay a lot of attention to these beautiful old Courthouses in South Texas. Back in the early days the Kingsville Record would print the names of the jurors before each court session. Kingsville’s jury rosters provided an interesting look at the community. The names were a list of the founding fathers of Kingsville. This was their town and they seemed proud of their jury duty.
In July of 1915, very soon after the opening of the courthouse, there was a murder trial that required special attention and a venire of 100 jurymen. It took the better part of July to finally get 12 good and true men to sit on that jury.
If you have an opportunity, take a walk through the Kleberg County Courthouse during business hours. Or, take a walk through your county’s courthouse. There is history there and some pretty interesting folks have walked those halls, participating in the building of South Texas. As always, when you are done, come to visit the 1904 Kingsville Train Depot Museum. You might just hear some stories about the “Temple of Justice”.