Alto

The Alto Herald (Vol. 15, No. 50, Ed. 1) dated December 2, 1915 reported that a Negro suspected of robbing the local drug store belonging to S. F. Harrison was placed in the calaboose, but later released.

The Sanborn fire insurance maps dated 1925 and 1934 show a one-story concrete city jail in city block 16 near the fire department.  A search on Google Earth revealed that this building is no longer standing.

Jacksonville

The first mention of a calaboose in Jacksonville was in the Palestine Daily Herald dated January 19, 1904.  The article reports that the city calaboose was blown up by dynamite.  It was made of pine slabs.

In March of 1904, a new one story brick calaboose was constructed. It was built by C. F. Emmons at a cost of about $500 and referred to as a calaboose. It was 14 x 16 feet (224 square feet) in size and had a steel cage. It was to be  located on an alley on the east side of the Cotton Belt railroad near the Bolton Street crossing provided the city has title to the property and there is sufficient room. The city had to go into debt to get the calaboose.

The 1906 Sanborn map (Sheet 4) depicts the brick calaboose in block 122 at the corner of South Front and Bonner streets in Jacksonville.  It was still there in 1911 (Sheet 4).   It was gone in 1923.

There was a small one-story concrete jail that has been incorporated into Sadler’s Restaurant. The owner does not have any historic photos or other information. Local historian Shelley Cleaver said that it stood alone at one time and was added on to by the city to create space for other offices.

Jacksonville 1906