COURTHOUSE SQUARE SURVEY MARKER INSTALLATION

HCIDA Courthouse Endowment Board

announces installation of survey markers indicating the property boundaries

determined by recent survey of the Harrison County Courthouse Square

The Harrison County Industrial Development Authority (HCIDA) Board of Directors, most commonly referred to as the Courthouse Endowment Board, shared that the official survey markers connected with the recent HCIDA-funded survey of the property associated with the 1901 restored Harrison County Courthouse and Courthouse Square in downtown Marshall, will be installed on Thursday, July 9.

These 4-inch brass survey markers will designate the official corners and property boundaries of the Courthouse Square owned by Harrison County.

The survey of the property associated with the 1901 restored Harrison County Courthouse and Courthouse Square was recommended by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) earlier this year. The 9-member volunteer HCIDA Board voted in February to fund the survey in order to confirm the property boundaries. The survey was done in coordination with Harrison County.

Mark Patheal of MTX Surveying performed the survey, which was funded and managed by the HCIDA Board and volunteer Harrison Courthouse Manager. Funded by the Courthouse endowment, the survey was carried out at no cost to the taxpayers of Harrison County.

Christina Anderson, president of the HCIDA Board of Directors, shared: “We look forward to sharing with the Commissioners Court, the Texas Historical Commission, and our community the final results of the survey and the final survey report once the markers are installed and the survey is certified. It will be exciting to be able to share a definitive determination of the property boundaries not only for our community’s current purposes but also for all future purposes going forward.”

Ms. Anderson added that the HCIDA Board has kept Judge Chad Sims and the Commissioners Court, as well as the Texas Historical Commission, apprised of every aspect of the progress of the survey throughout the process.

The survey was informed by extensive historical research, legal analysis, and the compilation of relevant historical documents dating back to 1841, carried out by former Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson, who now serves in a volunteer capacity as Harrison Courthouse Manager, working with the HICDA Board in accomplishing the Board’s two-fold mission and work.

Created in 2010, the HCIDA Board of Directors has a two-fold mission a) to preserve, protect, and grow the Courthouse endowment which was established by the Commissioners Court in 2009 after the completion of the restoration of the 1901 Courthouse and b) to assist Harrison County with the ongoing preservation of the restored 1901 Harrison County Courthouse in perpetuity.

In 2009, after the completion of the restoration of the 1901 Courthouse, the Courthouse endowment was proposed and structured by then-County Judge Richard Anderson through the sale of historic tax credits and approved by the Commissioners Court.

The County transferred the proceeds from the sale of the historic tax credits in order to establish a Courthouse endowment which was created to assist the County with the ongoing preservation of the restored 1901 Courthouse in perpetuity so that the Courthouse would never go into disrepair again. As part of the HCIDA Board’s two-fold mission, the HCIDA Board has invested and managed the endowment funds so that they continue to grow for the purpose of assisting the County with the ongoing Courthouse preservation.

In recent years, in addition to the Courthouse Square survey in 2020, the HCIDA Board of Directors has carried out six other permanent improvement-related projects on the restored 1901 Courthouse. These projects include a Conditions Assessment of the restored building in 2015 to establish the permanent improvement needs going forward, as well as re-painting and repair of all exterior windows and doors of the Courthouse, the repainting of the area around the interior rotunda, replacing and installing UV-resistant sealant on the Courthouse and surrounding sidewalks, repainting the exterior handrails, and re-upholstering the 14 jury chairs in the historic courtroom.

These HCIDA projects have totaled approximately $95,000. All projects were funded and managed by the volunteer HCIDA Board and volunteer Courthouse Manager at no cost to the taxpayers of Harrison County. The Courthouse endowment is the only Courthouse endowment of its kind in the state of Texas.

The members of the HCIDA Board include Christina Anderson, President; Chief Reggie Cooper, Vice President, Veronica King, Secretary; Eric Neal, Treasurer; Dr. Blair Blackburn, Commissioner Jay Ebarb, Jack Redmon, Commissioner Zephaniah Timmins, and Amanda Wynn.

The HCIDA will share the results of the survey and more information about the process, as well as the historical research that informed the survey, once the survey is officially certified in the coming week.