Sign Up  /  Login

First aidThe Curse of the Courthouse Clock LbNA #38186

Owner:Boots Tex
Plant date:Mar 5, 2008
Location:
City:Seguin
County:Guadalupe
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Bandit Raccoon
Last found:Apr 7, 2019
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Mar 5, 2008
According to a famous legend, the Gonzales County, Texas, courthouse clock is cursed. When the last hanging occurred in the county in 1921, a man named Albert Howard protested his death sentence, proclaiming that he was innocent of the charges for which he was being tried and that, if he was hanged, which he was on March 18, 1921, that the four faces of the clock would never again keep the correct time. Sure enough, since then, the four clock faces haven’t always agreed on the time. Lightning has also struck the courthouse several times; plenty of proof for many folks that the clock curse is real. The Seth Thomas clock was installed in 1896 at a cost of $900. In 1990, Henry Christian, a generous and proud citizen of the county, donated his time and $11,000 to repair the old timepiece. It was removed and completely renovated during the 1990s before being reinstalled. A lot of folks thought that would be the end of the curse, but occasionally, the clock’s four faces perpetuate Albert Howard’s curse. If you happen to be in Gonzales and have an appointment to keep, don’t depend on the courthouse clock to get you there on time. Mr. Howard’s probably up there in the tower, looking down and exacting his revenge on the unwary.

Directions:
The box is located on the walking trail at the Guadalupe County Safe Rest Area on Interstate 10 (eastbound) ten miles east of Seguin, Texas. Here is a link to the Reast Area:

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/mnt/sra/srahome.htm?sranbr=71&dir=E

The new Texas Safe Rest Areas are really beautiful facilities of which all Texans can be proud. Go to the link above to read all about them.

To the box:
Park your car and go inside to enjoy the facilities and learn about the history of the area. The historical display concentrates on early Texas history around the town of Gonzales and there is a replica of the “Come and Take It” cannon. The real cannon can be seen at the museum in Gonzales. It is surprisingly small: a little over 21 inches long and weighing 69 pounds, but it packed a punch that cannot be measured by its size alone. When you go back out to your car, look across the driveway for the nature trail. As you walk along the trail, notice the marker posts that identify plants. Bear right at the trail intersection and look for the marker post that identifies the Yaupon Holly on your right. Behind the Yaupon on the ground, under rocks and sticks, is the cursed box. There are two letterboxes on the trail at the westbound Rest Area across the highway, one by dewberry and the other by Pastry Princess.