Odessa
The Sanborn map dated 1927 (Sheet 1) depicts a jail in the northwest corner of the Public Square (city block 35). It shared the lot with the county courthouse. This corner was at the intersection of East 4th and North Grand Avenue (Grant). In 1934 (Sheet 2) the jail was gone and there was a small calaboose in the general area. In the same block was a two-story county jail. The presence of the calaboose and absence of the former jail suggests that the calaboose was an interim lockup until the larger jail was completed. Blackburn writes that the jail present on the 1927 map was built in 1904 and was the first jail in the county. He describes it as a “rectangular one-story building with two rooms made of 2” x 4” planks laid flat and nailed down. The building appears to have been 20’-24’ long and perhaps 10’ from floor to ceiling. Each of the two rooms contained an iron cage and one 12” window. The structure served for about twenty years despite the fact that several prisoners tried to escape by setting the building on fire. In 1927, Ector County sold its old slightly singed jail to Crane County for $175.
In 1939 (Sheet 2), the calaboose was gone and the jail had been converted into the Ector County Library (see Blackburn). At that time the cages were housed in the courthouse. In 1947 (Sheet 2), the library was gone and the former jail had been converted into county offices. The last Sanborn map for Odessa was published in 1950. At that time the old jail had become the home of the Boy Scouts.
I found this picture on a website entitled “Texas Lawmen, Outlaws, and Jails.” Not sure who is the person responsible for the site but this picture was posted by Ginger Andrews and the text came from an article by Dawn Turnham. She writes that it was built about 1904 and sold to Crane County in 1927 for $175. Her article states that Pioneers of Odessa said that many times shackled prisoners tried to escape by setting the jail on fire.