I found this picture on the Internet.  Sutherland Springs is in Wilson County close to San Antonio.  It could be a bank vault or another structure that required a secure door but it could also be a calaboose.

I was going to add Billy Gilbert’s comments to my discussion of the Odell calaboose but when I go to that page his comments appear below.  For now, that is where they will stay.

One of my readers, Billy Gilbert, sent some historical information regarding the calaboose at Odell in Wilbarger County.  I really appreciate the help.  His comments can be seen on the page where I discuss this calaboose.

 

Jack Brooks discovered a primary source in the library that discusses the Rogers calaboose.  I just posted this information on the website.  The author writes about how unpleasant it must have been to spend time in that little brick jail.

My previous post was about the calaboose in Walburg.  I talked with the owner who said it is a metal cage that used to be on wheels and used to transport prisoners.  He is using it for storage.  The bottom was badly rusted so he poured a concrete slab to put it on.  The exterior is covered with tin to keep out rain.  I hope to find out if there was a stationary calaboose in town also.

Walburg, originally called Concordia, is in Williamson County, Texas.  Jack Brooks recently told me about the old calaboose in that town.  He got the following information from a Mr. Mitchan, a resident of the town who was 80 years old at the time of the interview.  According to him and paraphrased by Jack, the calaboose used to be around the Northeast corner and about 100 yards from the cotton gin.  The frame was made from flat bar stock and would hold a maximum of 8-10 people. There were no places to sit.  The spacing was about 6″ x 6″ for the open gaps in the calaboose strap spacing.  In the 1960s, Carl Doering sold the gin.  The calaboose was left there for awhile.  Later, it was given to a local family who covered it with tin and still use it as a storage shed.

This is a great example of a calaboose that would never have been documented if it were not for people like Jack Brooks.  Although it is not in its original location and its exterior has been altered, it still exists and adds to the data base for calabooses in Texas.

One of my informants is Jack Brooks from the Taylor, Texas area.  He follows the website and has shared information in the past.  Today, he was in the Taylor library an he stumbled upon an interesting article about the town of Rogers, Texas in Bell County).  This is just the kind of information that I hope to find.  A first-hand account of a calaboose in 1930.  I found it to be most interesting and says something that Rhonda and I said when we first saw the little calaboose in Gause, Texas.  “Cold as Amarillo in the winter and hot as blazes in the summer.”

 

 

 

 

Ringgold, Texas is a small town in Montaque County near the Oklahoma border.  I have been working with Max Brown to find a way to save the old calaboose there.  He has been successful in getting it donated to the county and plans are starting to become reality to make this happen.  The attached pictures show the view from the highway before clearing brush and afterwards and a great closeup.  Thanks to people like Max some of these historic structures are being saved and protected.