J. Riely Gordon designed the Erath County Courthouse in a Romanesque Revival style with a striking polychromatic exterior of native limestone and Pecos sandstone. It features the rhythm of recessed planes and projecting pavilions common in Gordon’s work. Contractor S.A. Tomlinson of Fort Worth constructed the three-story courthouse for a cost of $59,173. Built in 1891 to 1892, the courthouse is the center of the Shelbyville-style Erath County Courthouse square and the commercial district of Stephenville and is the heart of the community. In 2002, the Texas Historic  Courthouse Preservation Program, along with architect Norman Alston of Dallas, restored the Erath County Courthouse  to its original picturesque composition. Its central clock tower has been the most prominent feature of the Stephenville  landscape for 125 years.