Ellis County Courthouse

Ellis County Courthouse Review

As you stroll around the historic Ellis County Courthouse, notice the series of faces sculpted into the porch capitals. When the building was being constructed in the late 1890s, as the story goes, the German artist, a fellow named Harry Herley, fell in love with local girl Mabel Frame and began sculpting her face for inclusion on the building. When his love was not returned, the depictions of her face became progressively more grotesque and deformed. Did it actually happen? Who knows, but it makes for a good tale nonetheless. What is true, however, is that the courthouse is a gorgeous example of Richardson Romanesque architecture.