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 April 18, 2009 | Bowie County Courthouse Texas County Courthouse Project #78: Bowie County (New Boston, Texas) Bowie County is located in the northwest corner of Texas and borders both Arkansas and Oklahoma. The county was formed in 1840 and named for Jim Bowie. Bowie gained fame during his lifetime as a frontiersman and for the knife he made famous when he used the large blade to kill Norris Wright after being stabbed and shot himself in what would become known as the Sandbar Fight. Bowie moved to Texas in 1830 and became a Mexican citizen. In 1831 he married Maria Ursula de Veramendi whose father would become the vice-governor of the province of Coahuila y Tejas. His legend grew after his expeditions to find the 'lost' Los Almagres Mine that was rumored to exist near the ruins of the San Saba Mission west of San Antonio. His men would encounter a large group of Indians and fought them off for thirteen hours despite being outnumbered. It is said that Bowie’s men killed fourteen Indians and lost only one of their own. After word of the fight reached San Antonio most, including Bowie’s wife, presumed they had been killed. A few days later Bowie and his men returned to San Antonio much to everyone’s surprise. Tragically, Bowie’s pregnant wife Ursula and their daughter died in a cholera epidemic in 1833. Jim Bowie is most famous for, of course, his role in the Texas Revolution. Although he is most known for fighting at the Alamo, he also fought at the Battle of Concepcion and the Grass Fight. After becoming gravely ill during the siege of the Alamo, it is believed he fought from his cot, back to the wall as Mexican soldiers entered his room. Legend says he used his gun and famous Bowie knife to kill several Mexicans before being overtaken. His body was burned along with the other Alamo defenders after their defeat. Later, when his mother was given the news of his death, she replied, 'I'll wager no wounds were found in his back.' A year after the Alamo fell, Juan Seguin returned and gathered ashes from what remained of the funeral pyre. The ashes were placed in a simple coffin inscribed: Bowie, Travis, and Crockett. The remains were then interred in the Cathedral of San Fernando near the Alamo, the same church from which Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna hoisted his flag of “No Quarter”. The original county seat of Bowie County was in Boston, now known as Old Boston, not to be confused with the current Boston down the road or New Boston a little farther down the road, which is not really all that “new” seeing as though it’s actually older than Boston, the newer one, not Old Boston which actually is old. The first courthouse was in Boston, the one now known as Old Boston. Then the seat was moved all the way to Texarkana before being moved back to the center of the county just north of Boston. By this time there was already a New Boston a few miles to the north. The new courthouse was neither in Boston nor New Boston so a new town was formed. They attempted to name the new town something different but eventually the post office in Boston was relocated to the new county seat and retained the name Boston. So the new town became Boston and the old Boston became Old Boston and New Boston stayed the same, even though it was no longer new. The courthouse stayed in Boston until 1986 when a new one was built next door in New Boston, although Boston is still officially the county seat. The 1889 courthouse in Boston was abandoned after the move and on August 13, 1987 an arsonist burned it to the ground. What remains in Boston’s old courthouse square is a pretty sad lot overgrown with weeds and neglect. The old jail still stands on the corner, but in such bad shape it’s a wonder the building is still standing. The new courthouse in New Boston was built in 1985. |
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