The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 220
544 p. : ill., ports., maps. (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Fourth courthouse (1887-1939) -built of brick, plastered out-
side. It was tall and stately, having a clock tower, in which was
a huge clock with faces looking north, east, south, and west. Its
gong rang out the hours of days and nights. The courthouse was
declared unsafe in 1988.
Fifth courthouse (1939-to the present) -built of native Texas
stone. Plaque in it reads: "Federal Works Agency-Public Works
Administration-John W. Carmody, Federal Works Administra-
tor-Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States-Falls
County Courthouse, 1939."
THE BRAzos RIVER
The Brazos River traverses the county and has "a shallow
valley two to three miles wide, bordered by low moderately
sloping upland escarpments, which, in many places, mark the
boundaries of the flood plains and the flat ancient stream ter-
races, lying high above overflow."
Red soil, brought downstream in many frequent overflows
(often dangerous and costly), settled to form a "bottom" of
alluvial soil, which accounts for frequent shifting of the stream's
channel. The alluvial soil, too, made bridge-building difficult
and crossing the river difficult and costly.
The greatest shift of the channel took place in the middle
186o's, when it shifted eastward, creating the present falls. The
original falls were about two miles southwest of the present ones.
HISTORY
INDIANS-TRADING POST AT FALLS
The area, which is now Falls County, was once inhabited by
and roamed over by savage Indians, determined to prevent the
White Man from molesting their "happy hunting grounds" and
favorite fishing holes on the Brazos. The Reverend F. P. Goddard
of Marlin and others have collections of arrow heads, tomahawks,
flint hand-axes and knives, stone bowls and other artifacts found
in the county to prove the presence of many Indians at one time.
Also, numerous Indian burial grounds and skeletons have been
unearthed.
The falls of the Brazos became a place of rendezvous for earlyo20
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951, periodical, 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101133/m1/296/?rotate=90: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.