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As
an office building she housed real estate brokers, lawyers,
doctors, dentists, and the Justice of the Peace. As a school
she served children from 1893 until 1901 following a fire
which destroyed the local high school. Once again in 1919
when the two story school building was condemned as unsafe,
she housed Blanco students. Beginning in 1906 her vaults,
once used by county tax collectors, were utilized by the
Blanco National Bank. Later she became the site of the
Federal Farm Loan Bank. As a community meeting place she
served as the Farmers' Union Hall, the Town Hall, theater,
opera house, library and even the fair grounds.She became
the second home of the locally published Blanco County News,
which is still serving the community. In her most well known
roll she served from 1937 to 1961 as a general
hospital.
Between 1971 and 1973 the building was a wild west museum
and became a recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Briefly she
was a restaurant - barbecue of course - but this service was
short lived.
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The
Grand Old Building eventually fell into a state of
disrepair and was for sale for a number of years.
An ardent admirer who envisioned the faded beauty
restored to her former grandeur as his private
residence, bought the building in 1986. His plan
included dismantling the old building and moving
her stone by stone to his ranch.
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What
ordinarily would have been an inconspicuous notice
in the Blanco County News in June of 1986 proved to
be the first trickle of a tidal wave voicing public
indignation. Within days local citizens gathered to
plot their strategy. Thus the Old
Blanco County Courthouse Preservation
Society
was born and a formal petition was drawn up
opposing the owner's plan to remove the Old
Courthouse from her home on the square.
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In
July, US Representative Jake Pickle added his name to those
of over twelve hundred other petitioners -- a large
percentage of the population of the entire county. In August
of 1986, Courthouse advocates crowded into a City Council
meeting determined that an Historical District ordinance to
prevent the loss of additional buildings would be passed.
The successful outcome spoke out clearly on behalf of
preserving Blanco's cultural heritage.
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In
May, 1998, after countless hours of fund raising,
planning, renovation and restoration work by OBCCPS
members, the grand old building was rededicated and
reopened for use by then Governor George W. Bush.
Efforts to pay off the restoration debt and to
complete the restoration continue as OBCCPS
continues to pursue the dream.
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