Despite these challenges, the county was sufficiently organized to construct the courthouse in 1919 hiring architect Bradford Hardie of the architectural firm Beutell & Hardie from El Paso to design the building. Hardie began living in El Paso in 1906 at the age of six and graduated from El Paso High School before pursuing an architectural degree from Cornell University. His design of the courthouse was influenced by his architectural education and the works of other contemporary El Paso architects including Henry Trost. The building was damaged by an earthquake in 1924 likely becoming the only state courthouse to have ever required earthquake-related repair.
