Free Parking...Bldg just got a face lift...a few places to eat nearby...read more

Looking a lot like a State Capitol, the Chaves County courthouse is located just off the main strip…read morein downtown Roswell. Chaves County was named for Colonel Jose Francisco Chaves (1833-1904), a military leader here during the Civil War and later in Navajo campaigns. The county was created by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature on February 25, 1889, out of land from Lincoln County. The courthouse was built in 1911 after Roswell's citizens learned that New Mexico would become a state the next year. It is a Beaux-Arts styled building with a cupola atop the courthouse that utilizes green tiles. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 15, 1989. Unfortunately, the building was secured on a weeknight at 6pm when I stopped by, but that did not stop me from admiring the outside and the perfectly mowed grass on the exterior. There is a very nicely done Chaves County Veterans War Memorial in the front next to a granite engraved Ten Commandments. [Review 17447 overall - 60 in New Mexico - 965 of 2022.]

This is a very nice park, kinda in the middle of the historic downtown area right off of Main…read moreStreet. I noticed a parking area behind it. It has the Goddard rocket on one end. The bull and rider sculpture in the middle and the visitors center on the other end. The grassy area was lush and green. Ready to be mowed but with the rain it's getting really thick. Was a nice place to sit and watch the cars go by.

This marker is located just north of the city center of Roswell and is along a rather wide street…read more No problem stopping to check it out. The marker reads, "Roswell Pioneer Plaza. This plaza incorporates two of downtown Roswell's most historic buildings. East of this location is teh Chaves County Courthouse, built in 1911. It is one of the best surviving examples of courthouses built in the Beaux Arts REvival "monumental civic style" architecture. The nearby Conoco service station was built in the 1920s. It is one of the few remaining architecturally intact gasoline stations from this early period of New Mexico's transportation history." It has the same text on the reverse. [Review 17448 overall - 61 in New Mexico - 966 of 2022.]

Gaines County is located in northwest Texas, bordering the state of Oklahoma. It is named for James…read moreGaines, a merchant who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1779. The county seat is here in Seminole, which was not Seminole Indians. The Native Americans who were here before were Comanche Indians. The courthouse building isn't a particularly impressive design though it is a modern style unlike others I've seen in Teas. It is a four story building with smooth cut limestone veneer and steel-frame sash windows. The turquoise and white looks a little Art Deco but not quite. It was built in 1955 and envelopes the original 1922 structure. There is a very faded marker in front that reads, "Named for James L. Gaines, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, this county was formed out of Bexar County in 1876. Anglo settlement of the area began about 1895, and the county was formally organized in 1905. Seminole was established as the county seat that year, and a courthouse was built in 1906. Ranching and farming were the most prominent and profitable occupations until the mid-1930s, when they were eclipsed by oil production. Gaines County encompasses 1,479 square miles, and Seminole and Seagraves are its two largest cities." The building is open to the public. I found the interior to be completely functional and unexciting. Parking on the street all around is free. [Review 17428 overall - 439 in Texas - 946 of 2022.]