The Dallas County Courthouse—better known as “Old Red”—has stood at the edge of downtown since 1892. Built from red sandstone with rusticated marble accents, it was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect Max A. Orlopp, Jr. For decades, it served as the center of county government before being replaced in 1966. Today, it lives on as the Old Red Museum, preserving the layered history of Dallas. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
 
But like many courthouses of its era, Old Red carries a more difficult history as well. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the surrounding area—particularly nearby Dealey Plaza—was the site of public executions and lynchings. These acts, often carried out in the name of justice, were also tied to a broader history of racial violence and injustice in Dallas and across the South. They are a sobering reminder that institutions meant to uphold the law did not always protect all people equally.
 
Today, Old Red stands not only as an architectural landmark, but as a place that reflects both the progress and the contradictions of the city’s past.

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