Lockhart. Texas

Assembled cell on its side

This cage or cell is located on private property in Lockhart, Texas.  The landowner observed an unusual large piece of metal lying on the surface and virtually obscured with roots and other forms of vegetation.  After removing it he was not sure what he had found.  Later, he noticed metal plate sticking above the ground.  Only a few inches were visible and he began digging to see what it was and he unearthed the walls of a very old metal cell.

Landowner in the process of unearthing the cell

Based on what was found during the removal of this unusual structure, it appears that prisoners were placed into the cell from the top and spent their time below ground.  I visited this site with Rhonda Holley on August 9, 2014 and we were very intrigued by what has to be one of the most unusual specimens of a jail to date that we have seen during the course of this project.   The dimensions are 5′, 2.5″ x 6′, 3.5″ (33 square feet).  The apparent door measures 3′ x 6′, 3″.  The bars are made of strap iron and the entire cell was assembled using rivets.  The walls are heavy metal plate that weigh about 1000 pounds each.  This cage is the only one in the current sample that was buried and it does not conform to one of the common floor plans.

This cage does not appear on any of the Sanborn fire insurance maps for Lockhart but it is quite possible that it was no considered something that needed to be mapped or that it was simply overlooked.  The exact age is not known but it is probable that it was manufactured sometime during the 1800s.

There are three theories that we are considering as to who built it.

(1) It could have been a very early jail built by the city and used until an above ground structure was constructed.  The idea that it came from an earlier jail and buried intact does not seem very likely.

 (2)  There were slave owners in the area and it could have been used to punish slaves as an example to the others.  Mary Philips is a resident of Lockhart and she has been researching the history of the area.  She found a quote by a slave named Gus Johnson who was part of a plantation in Sunnyside, Texas just outside of Houston.  that mentions an underground lockup on a plantation as “de jail builded undergroun’ like de storm cave and it have a drop door with de weight on it, so dey couldn’t git up from de bottom.  It sho’ was dark in dat place.”  This information came from two sources (Federal Writers’ Project 2001) and an Internet source (____).

(3) A U.S. collar insignia, numerous old horseshoes, and several bullet casings were found nearby.  Due to the problems that whites experienced with hostile Comanches in the area, a small military contingent could have been stationed there.  The Battle of Plum Creek took place in 18__ in the vicinity.

The manufacturer of this cage is not known.