Lexington, Texas
Front View
Side View
View of Interior
This metal cell is located at 4th and Wheatley streets on the grounds of the Lexington Log Cabins and Heritage Center, Inc. (or Lexington Pioneer Museum). The city of Lexington owns it, and the historical society (or Heritage Center) is responsible for its maintenance and preservation.
According to Ed Blackburn, Jr. (2006:208-209), the first jail in the county was built before the county was organized and he describes it as a two-story frame calaboose adjacent to the Houston and Central Texas Railroad tracks. He also states that there is no written record of its existence. The cell illustrated here was originally located in the first official lockup in Giddings and was in a brick building that was constructed in 1875 at a cost of $5,500.00. It was two stories high, 22 feet by 28 feet in size, and located on city block 146.
When the town built its next jail in 1915, the metal cage was moved to Lexington where it was placed inside a wooden structure that was on the east side of Belton Street between Second and Third streets. Today, this area is a vacant lot. The building that housed the “cell” was covered in tin with a concrete floor. It faced west and only had two windows: one on the north side and one on the south side. The size of the building is not known, but locals remember that it was just a “little” larger than the cell and there was just enough extra space to have a narrow walkway all around the cell with a little extra width at the entrance.
It was torn down sometime during the early 1960s. Although it had not been used very often in the last years before its destruction, an effort was made to modernize the facility by the addition of a toilet and an electric light about 1960. This would have occurred about a year or two before it was removed. The “Cell” was moved to the Lexington Log Cabins and Heritage Center about 1979.Beverly McMurrey said that the opposite wall was probably the same as the existing one, and the roof had bars. She does not know what the back was like.
The front of the cell was measured at 7 feet, 4.5 inches and the sides are 12 feet (88 square feet). The distance from the ground to the top of the walls is 6 feet, 1 inch. The window in the front is 14 inches square, and the window on the side is 29.5 inches by 4 feet, 3 inches. The door is 2 feet, 6 inches wide by 6 feet, 1 inch tall. The construction is very impressive and resulted in a massive and very strong structure. The sides consist of four steel plates riveted to other parts of the building and the plates are tied together with steel bars. The windows are made of strap iron and the bars are cold riveted to a frame and each other in a crosshatch pattern that allows light and ventilation for the prisoners. The front consists of three metal plates with one serving as the door.
It is unfortunate that the back, roof, and one wall are missing. According to different accounts, the missing roof and walls were hauled off by ranchers to use in constructing cattle chutes and/or bridges over wet areas. Adolf Herter salvaged the pieces of the old jail that are on display, and they were placed at the site by Terrell Hester, Alph Perry, and Dennis Boetcher.
The notorious outlaw William (Bill) Preston Longley was arrested in 1877 for murder and placed in this cell in Giddings while awaiting trial. On October 11, 1878, he was executed and his grave and a state historical marker are in the Giddings City Cemetery. The following is written on the front of the cell:
“A portion of the cell was built for custodial security of Bill Longley while awaiting trial in Giddings. Born October 6, 1851; Died October 11, 1878.”
Ruby Vance researched this jail and authored a short monograph that describes it in detail, and her work has been added to the site files at TARL.
This cage was recorded at TARL as historic site 41LE329. It conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans).