Historic Palestine

Wynne and Arthur Smalley had been charged
with burglarizing a local pool hall and Smalley
suggested that they should burn the
incriminating paperwork that awaited them in
the courthouse. Wynne hid nearby while
Smalley poured oil inside the courthouse and
set it ablaze. Palestine’s Daily Visitor reported on
the scene, “The whole city was illuminated
bright as day.”
Anderson County’s present courthouse was
nearly complete when it was dedicated on the
historic square in Palestine on December 20,
1914. A century later, the classic structure
remains “shining on the hill.” By the 1980’s,
need for more space in which to store the
massive collection of county records that had
been previously kept in the dome of the
building led to the acquisition of the city’s
Federal Building, which was built in 1914, to
become the courthouse annex. A new
courthouse annex was built on Mallard Street
in 2005.
❖
Left: The Anderson County
Courthouse, pictured here in 2011,
was listed in the National Register of
Historic Places by the U.S.
Department of the Interior in 1992.
The courthouse was renovated in
1986 through a grant from the Texas
Historical Commission and
improvements to its grounds
commenced in 1988.
PHOTO BY ERIC DABNEY.
Below: Important historical markers
stand vigil on the grounds around the
Anderson County courthouse in 2011
and include the stories of Palestine’s
Confederate Salt Works, Governor
Thomas Mitchell Campbell, Micham
Main, the Anderson County
Courthouse, and a military memorial
honoring those from Anderson County
who gave their lives in World War I,
World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
PHOTO BY ERIC DABNEY.
C h a p t e r I I ✦ 1 5