The 1890 Donley County Courthouse was recently photographed as part of new project to publish a pictorial book of all 254 Texas county courthouses.
Curtis Smith of Houston retired as a financial planner in 2000 and soon took up photography as hobby after taking pictures on a trip to Europe.
“I ended up taking a photography class at Rice University, and built up my quality of camera equipment,” Smith said during a recent visit to Clarendon and the Enterprise.
Smith said he saw a lawyer posting courthouse pictures online and wondered who all could say they had been to all of Texas’ 254 counties. That was four years ago, and now he’s shot nearly 200 of the buildings all across the state.
The project is taking a lot of time because, as Smith notes, “they aren’t in a straight line.”
Smith’s October visit to the Panhandle with his wife Debbie finished off photographing the courthouses in this part of the state, but he says it will probably be about two years before a book is completed.
“There are a lot of courthouse books out there,” Smith says, “but they are outdated.”
Smith, who is a close friend of Clarendon native Will Lowe, also has an eye for details and unique features that he says is lacking in the current books.
He has a few favorites among the ones he’s shot so far, including Clarendon’s courthouse.
“This is definitely the jewel of the Panhandle,” he says, noting that other favorites are Ellis County, Presidio County, Grimes County, and the 1910 Harris County Courthouse surrounded by ancient oak trees.
When he’s finished with Texas’ courthouses, Smith says his next project will be cars with a focus on details, lines, and rust.
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