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 July 29, 2008 | Bell County Courthouse Texas County Courthouse Project #26: Bell County (Belton, Texas) Bell County was formed in 1850 and named for Texas Governor, Peter Hansborough Bell. Bell left his home of Virginia for Texas to fight in the Texas Revolution. He fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and then after the war joined Jack Coffee Hays’ company of Texas Rangers. He joined the U.S. Army and fought with distinction in the Mexican War under the command of General Zachary Taylor. Bell was twice elected governor (in 1849 and 1851) but resigned to fill a vacancy in the United States Congress where he served until his retirement from public service in 1857. Today, a statue of Governor Bell stands proudly on the courthouse lawn. Originally the county seat of Bell County was named Nolan Springs and then Nolanville after famous adventurer Philip Nolan who is credited as being the first in a line of filibusters (an American who entered Spain and Mexico to help overthrow the government) that eventually led to Texas’ independence. He was killed by Spanish troops in 1801. In 1851, Nolanville was changed to Belton, named for the county. The Indian threat kept most settlers away from the area until the 1840’s, but Indian raids still occurred as late as 1859. The same lawlessness and vigilante “justice” that took place in surrounding counties took place in Bell County. In 1866, a mob lynched several pro-Union men who had been jailed for the murder of a member from a feuding group and, in 1874, another mob broke into the Belton jail and killed eight men accused of stealing horses and one accused of murder. Bell County helped elect anti-secessionist Sam Houston governor in 1859. Governor Houston came to Belton and delivered a speech against secession in the courthouse square, but the county still voted overwhelmingly for secession in 1861. Baylor Female College moved from Independence to Belton in 1886 and eventually became the co-educational University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Bell County courthouse was built in 1884 and recently restored through the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. The clock tower that had been missing for at least fifty years was replaced in 2003 and now looks the way it was supposed to. The building and the grounds around it are beautiful. Defiantly one of my favorites. 
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