Huntsville Courthouse Square, Huntsville

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The Huntsville town square is sort of the town’s living room really from a grander Golden Era to bad the old courthouses was replaces but the buildings that surround the courthouse are mostly of the same vintage as the old courthouse. The square has plenty of antique shops and restaurants and all the other boutique-style shops you may want on a historic town square.

Video of downtown Huntsville on a Saturday afternoon. Huntsville square

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Huntsville is a small city of almost 40,000 (up 10% since 2000) located along Interstate 45/US Highway 190 in the Piney Woods part of East Texas. The settlement of Huntsville began in 1836 when Ephraim Gray and his wife started a trading post here. Gray named the town after his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. A short time later another famous Texan, Sam Houston, came to town. Huntsville is the county seat of Walker County. Walker County was initially named after Robert J. Walker the Mississippi legislator who introduced the bill to annex Texas; but was changed after Walker supported the Union during the Civil War. After that Walker County was named after Walker, Texas Ranger (no not Chuck Norris, but Samuel H. Walker).

The current Walker County Courthouse is the 5th one and was completed in 1970 after part of the previous one was destroyed by fire. There is a nice gazebo on the grounds along with the cornerstone from the previous one completed in 1889.