John and Lynda Hill Collection

Biographical Note

John G. Hill graduated from Baylor Law School in 1967. He joined the Tarrant County Bar Association that same year and started practicing law. In less than ten years, Hill became a judge in the Tarrant County court system. Judge Hill served on the County Court at Law from 1975 to 1978, then he served on the 322nd District Court from 1979 to 1983. After the District Court, he moved to the Court of Civil Appeals. In 1992, while serving on the Court of Civil Appeals, Judge Hill was one of five people in the Tarrant County courthouse who were wounded by gunman George Lott. He recovered from his wound and continued working in the county courts until he retired.

Judge Hill was gifted an autographed limited edition lithograph of the Tarrant County Civil Courts Building for his longstanding membership in the Tarrant County Bar Association. The print is a reproduction of an oil painting by artist Hal Warnick and depicts the 1988 version of the building. The building was constructed on a lot next to the 1895 county courthouse in the modern style by Wyatt C. Hedrick in 1957. The county used it for civil courts and administration offices. Hedrick’s design for the building as well as its chosen location next to the historic courthouse received criticism from county residents. Decades of discussion about its extreme architectural contrast with the courthouse led to alterations of the façade in 1988. Although the alterations made the two buildings more compatible, the county eventually decided it no longer needed the building. It was demolished in 2013. Judge Hill and his wife, Lynda, gifted the print to the Tarrant County Archives in 2023.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains a framed limited edition lithograph of the Tarrant County Civil Courts Building created by artist Hal Warnick in 1990. 

Materials in this collection consist of the following:

• The Old and the New, the Tarrant County Civil Courts Building, by Hal Warnick, 1990