22The Lady Who Lost Her Arm in a Storm
McLennan County Courthouse by architect J. Riely Gordon, 1902 · Themis on the dome, with Justitia and Liberty on the roofline and a ring of zinc eagles around the dome’s base · the storm-damaged original Themis replaced January 6, 2018 by a cast-aluminum double commissioned by the county · sculptor of the figures not on record · know who made them? Tell us.MONUMENT
The goddess on the dome is a body double — the original literally gave justice her right arm. Well, left.
The white Beaux-Arts wedding cake at the heart of the county is J. Riely Gordon's 1902 courthouse — and the tiny figure on top of the dome, 170 feet up, is Themis, the Greek goddess of divine law. Or rather: Themis II. The original zinc statue spent 115 years having her sword and scales snatched by Texas storms, and in June 2014 one storm tore off her entire left arm, scales and all. She stood over Waco one-armed for three years — justice, visibly disarmed — while the county learned a new arm alone would cost around $400,000. So they commissioned a full cast-aluminum double, a thousand pounds heavier and rated to outlast every one of us, and on January 6, 2018, two cranes lifted the new goddess home while half the county watched.
She's not alone up there. Blindfolded Justitia and torch-bearing Liberty hold the roofline, and a ring of zinc eagles — their walls thin as a soda can — guard the dome. Their eyes were originally wired to glow red at night, which must have made 1902 Waco feel extremely supervised.
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