Monahans

This small wooden calaboose is located on the grounds of the Million Barrel Museum just outside the city limits of Monahans, Texas in Ward County.  The following information was taken from a memorandum by Edd E. Cox entitled “First Monahans Jail” on file at TARL with the site form.  His sources included existing records, and personal interviews with H. A. Clements, J. T. Yates, Tom Neal, F. I. Dryer, G. P. Mitchell, Fern Tatom, Carl D. Estes, and John Cox.  According to his research, there was no jail or calaboose in Monahans, Pyote, or Wink prior to 1929.  At that time, prisoners were chained to telephone poles on the streets of all three towns.  On January 1, 1927, F. I. Dryer became the Sheriff of Ward County and he began a campaign to have a jail or lockup built in Monahans.  The town was incorporated on May 18, 1928.  The first city election was held on August 6, 1928 and Fred P. Gibson was elected Mayor.  The first City Council members were E. R. Hill, John Pigman, N. E. Fielding, Charles Frame, and Earl Estes.  The new jail was constructed sometime between October 1928 and April 1929 at the southwest corner of what is now North Main Street and “A” Street about 150 feet north of the old Monahans well.  The builder was Jim Wylie and/or Sam Keithley.  It was constructed using 2 x 12 inch boards on the inside and the exterior was covered with 2 x 6 inch boards.  A tremendous amount of size 16 common nails was used, and the resulting wall was very strong and 4 inches thick.  The footprint is 16 feet across the front and 12 feet on the sides.  In each end, there was a small window 30 inches high and 6 inches wide with two bars made of 1-inch pipe over each window.  It was used as a jail for approximately three years or until 1932.  At the time this information was published by Cox, it had been moved to the northeast corner of Allen and “D” streets on county property, the current owner.

Exterior Construction

On April 11, 2014, Rhonda Holley accompanied me to the park where we took pictures and measurements of the jail.  Our investigation revealed a front width of 16 feet, 3 inches and 12 feet, 4 inches on the sides (200.4 square feet).  The roof slants from front to back.  The height from the ground to the top at the front is 8 feet, 10 inches and the height of the back is 6 feet, 7 inches.  The front window in the door measured 11 inches by 14.5 inches and was secured by three round metal bars placed horizontally.  The narrow side windows measured 6 inches high by 23 inches long and they were secured by two round metal bars placed horizontally.  The door is 3 feet wide by 6 feet, 5 inches tall.  The boards on the front were placed horizontally and the façade consists of boards of various lengths. At one time, the entire structure appears to have had double walls but some of the boards are missing in some areas.  This is clearly visible on the exterior of the back wall where horizontal boards were nailed over vertically placed boards.  The boards on the interior of the sides are horizontal.  When it was moved circa 1984, it was placed on a cement slab.  The original floor was probably dirt and there was no plumbing or electricity.  The tin roof is also a replacement. It is currently used for storage of antique farm and ranch implements. There were no Sanborn maps for Monahans available at the time of this study.  This structure conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans).   It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41WR86.  Information regarding the hours when the museum can be visited and directions to the site can be obtained by contacting Julene West at (432) 943-8401.

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