Ol' Red in Dallas

         The old county courthouse in Dallas, built in 1892 and saved from demolition recently, is now known as Ol' Red. The building, heavily restored, now hosts exhibits about the history of Dallas.

Thank you beautiful clouds enhancing my picture!

Inside, the Flying Philly seems to fly across the floor. 

Squint hard to see the wyvern atop the roof, behind the fourth floor turret. Beyond the wyvern, note the top of the mirrored skyscraper demonstrating the juxtaposition of the old and the new. The wyverns on the east side of Ol' Red are the originals from 1892; the two on the west are fairly recent.

The glass in the windows of the turrets show some distortion 

in the Dallas County Records Building across the street. 

Inside one of the renovated court rooms, my friend Ellen serves as judge.

Massive iron stair structures climb from the first to the fourth floor. 

Details of the stairs show rays emanating from a star that reflect light from each step. At the end of this flight we can glimpse a lunette protected from rustling feet by a brass bar. 

I found one of the original lunettes on display.

The exhibit, spanning a couple hundred years of history in Dallas, 

included a diary written by Martin Gauldin during the 1840s. 

Clouds, though, competed all day to steal the show.