Old County Jail

Old County Jail. . Built in 1934, funded as a WPA government project during the Depression, as a replacement for the first county jail built in 1884, located on the same site. The first structure was one story tall with the cell cage setting on the ground inside., The new structure housed the sheriff and/or jailer plus his family on the lower floor; prisoners were upstairs. The jailer's wife cooked meals for the prisoners. A wood stove was tended by the prisoners. The original cell cage sets in the middle of the room with a run-around for exercise and for lesser felons., A jail break occurred in the 1960's when prisoners cut the bars at night and covered the cut with wax shoe polish. On another night later, they pried the bars back with a stick of stove wood, soaped their bodies and slipped out the window to the ground. They were apprehended, though., In the 1970's, the State of Texas condemned this building as a jail, forcing the county to build a new one. The county refurbished this building in 1991 for office space. The upstairs remains unchanged.