A walking tour of the Montague County courthouse square in 45 minutes.

The Montague County courthouse square is small enough to walk in twenty minutes and interesting enough to hold you for an hour. The 1912 courthouse anchors the north end. The 1886 jail sits behind it to the northeast. The square itself — shaded, benched, and quiet on weekday mornings — connects them with a loop that takes about 45 minutes if you stop to read the markers.

Start at the north steps of the courthouse. The building is a Classical Revival structure in Texas pink granite, designed by the Dallas firm of Lang and Witchell. The entry doors are original. Inside, the district courtroom on the second floor has remained in nearly continuous use since 1912. If court is not in session, the clerk's office will usually let you look in.

From the north steps, walk east toward the 1886 Montague County Jail. It is one of the oldest standing jails in North Texas and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Pauly Jail Building Company of Saint Louis built it. The cells are intact. Tours are available on Saturdays by appointment through the county historical commission.

The four historical markers on the square cover the county's founding in 1857, the Chisholm Trail crossings through Ringgold, the role of the Buffalo Soldiers at Red River Station, and a 1905 tornado. Read them in order — they form a rough chronological arc of the county's first fifty years.

The bench is on the south lawn, under a post oak that the county's records say was there before the courthouse. It faces west. In the late afternoon it is in full shade. Bring water — there is no fountain on the square, and the nearest cold drink is two blocks south.