Washita County Courthouse

The imposing Washita County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Solomon Andrew Layton in 1910 and completed in 1911, and has been called the “Grandfather of Oklahoma’s Courthouses.” Layton later gained fame as the architect for the State Capitol building in Oklahoma City.

The impressive courthouse sits in the middle of the road and intrigues travelers who must drive around the square to continue their route. This unusual arrangement can be credited to A.J. Johnson and J.C. Harrel, who each donated half the land needed for a courthouse on either side of the section line later used to demark the Highway. The two had platted the lands surrounding their respective sides for the growth of the city, and Cordell naturally rose around the town square. Despite the donation of land in 1897, it wasn’t until 1899 that county voters approved a move of the Washita County seat to Cordell from Cloud Chief, in the county’s southeast corner.