Waxahachie Courthouse: Beauty & The Beast

Like a lot of other small towns in America, a beautiful county courthouse dominates the town square of Waxahachie, Texas. The town is often called "The Gingerbread City" for the elaborate wooden lacework found on many of the area's vintage homes. It is also known as "The Movie Capital of Texas" for the many movies such as Places In The Heart, Bonnie & Clyde, 1918, The Trip to Bountiful and Tender Mercies which have all been filmed in and around the town. The many well-maintained stately homes on tree-shaded streets, the restored town square and the imposing 9-story tall courthouse make Waxahachie a perfect setting for turn-of-the-century-period movies.

The elaborate Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse, built in 1895 to replace an old wooden one that only cost $59 to build, is widely considered to be among the most beautiful in all of Texas. Look closely at the ornate sandstone carvings along the top of the granite columns however and you will find a disturbing story, a story of unrequited love.

In 1895, a young stone mason named Harry Herley who had recently immigrated from Italy was hired to sculpt and decorate the outer walls of the courthouse which was under construction. Harry rented a room at a nearby boarding house owned and operated by a Miss Frame. Her teenage daughter, Mabel, lived with her mother in the boarding house and, along with her cleaning duties, often helped serve food to the boarders in the communal dining room. Young Harry quickly became enchanted with the very lovely and vivacious Mabel and wasted no time before he began courting her. His good looks and charming accent attracted Mabel and she returned his amorous attention.

With the rush of young love driving him, he began carving angels into the sandstone that was to adorn the courthouse as an expression of his feelings toward Mabel. With great care and devotion, he then carved her face and added his own next to her's over one of the doorways. So enthused was he that he often worked into the wee hours of the night on the carvings.

It wasn't long however before Mabel's ardor began to cool. Plus, her mother had different plans for her daughter and they didn't include getting pregnant and marrying a poor, uneducated stonemason fresh off the boat from Italy. The short-term thrill of being involved with a handsome foreigner began to fade and it wasn't hard for Mabel's mother to convince her to turn her attention to someone who could offer her a better future. Embittered and brokenhearted, Harry's carvings began to drastically change. He took out his anger and sorrow on the stone beneath his chisel and the courthouse started becoming adorned with twisted demons, monsters and gargoyles.

If you visit the courthouse in Waxahachie, find the angels and happy faces and then with a simple walk around the outside of the building, you can follow the history of Harry's romance with Mable. It's easy to see the progression from enchantment to the excitement and thrill of first love and on to the misery and anger of rejection. Fascinating and sad.

And one more thing - according to word-of-mouth history handed down to the grandchildren by grandparents who were there, the last carving Harry made in the courthouse sandstone is not an angel, not a smiling face or even a monster or gargoyle. It is of something much more intimate - a stylistic rendition of a female's private parts. They say he placed it on display for all to see as a final insulting thumb-of-the-nose farewell.

As soon as his work was complete, Harry left the town where his heart was broken and moved to Dallas. History shows he married a girl there the next year, but sadly, he passed away of unknown causes in 1899. Mabel married a local boy and settled for a quiet, but happy life as a mother and wife in Waxahachie. As for that insulting last panel Harry left, it, like all the rest of the carvings, are still there, visible to anyone who takes the time to look for it.