Eagle Lake
Front View
In 1907, the Sanborn map (Sheet 3) depicts a small one-story brick calaboose in Eagle Lake, Texas just to the east of the Southern Pacific and Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad tracks and on the south side of McCarty Avenue. In 1912 (Sheet 1), it appears to be in the same location. On the 1922 Sanborn Map (Sheet 2), a one-story brick building is in the same area but this time it is referred to as a city jail. It has no street address, but the Eagle Lake Lumber Company immediately next door occupies 123-126 McCarty Avenue. This is the last Sanborn map available at the time of this study. Today, the calaboose is located in the same area and the streets are named South McCarty Avenue and EA Street. It is behind the Dairy Queen located at 100 Boothe Drive.
According to Evelyn Stowers (President of the Eagle Lake Preservation Alliance), this calaboose was built in 1904 as a replacement for the wooden jail that burned and resulted in the death of two Black prisoners. Ms Stowers statement has been confirmed by an article in the Palestine Daily Herald Vol. 2, No. 131, Ed. 1l) dated December 4, 1903. “Charles Cabins and Manuel Allen, two negro prisoners, were burned to death in the calaboose at Eagle Lake, where they were being held awaiting transfer to Columbus.”
The location of the first jail is not known and there is no Sanborn map for that year. In 1904, this jail was on the outskirts of town in a swampy area. There was a metal freestanding cage in the wooden jail, and it is believed that the same cage was placed in the new jail. The current jail was made from concrete blocks that were locally manufactured. There were two windows, one on each side. The front of the jail measures 5.24 meters across, and the sides are 6.43 meters in length (362.93 square feet). The distance from the ground to the top of the walls is 2.62 meters. The blocks used in the wall construction average 22 by 44 centimeters. The floor is cement. In the 1940s, the jail was altered to be used as a hut for the Girl Scouts. The door and one window were replaced with modern equivalents and a bathroom was added to the exterior of one side.
Side View Depicting Addition for a Bathroom
It is owned by the City of Eagle Lake, and the Eagle Lake Preservation Alliance has a 99 year lease to maintain it for posterity. This structure conforms to Floor Plan 2i (see Floor Plans). It was recorded at TARL as historic site 41CD151.
Weimar
This calaboose consists of a metal cell located inside a cinder block building that is part of the city of Weimar utility warehouse complex at 109 West Jackson Street in Weimar, Texas. It is owned by the city. According to a county history by Mary Hinton entitled Weimar, Texas: First 100 Years 1873-1973 published by the Von Boeckman-Jones Company in 1973, (pages 33-34), there was a jail in Weimar in 1885. The Sanborn fire insurance maps dated 1896 and 1901 depict a two-story brick calaboose with a wooden porch at the corner of Jackson and Exchange streets (City Block 5 and Lot 32), and this is probably the one that Ms. Hinton refers to in her book. On the 1912 Sanborn map (Sheet 5) it is still there, but it is referred to at this time as a jail and the wooden porch is missing. It seems probable that there was a metal cell in the original jail that was moved to the current location where it was affixed to a concrete slab and a toilet and electricity was added. There are two water storage tanks on the site of the former calaboose and jail. The date of construction of the current jail is not known, but a local informant said that it has been there at least 50 years.
The building is 15 feet across the front and 11 feet on the sides (165 square feet). The cell is made of heavy gauge steel that measures 7.9 feet across the front, 9.9 feet on the sides, and 6 feet from the ground to the top. There are two massive doors that contain small doors that were used to pass food and water to the prisoners. The roof is made from one-quarter inch steel plate, and the walls consist of two inch flat bars that are one-half inch thick and arranged in a checkerboard pattern that created multiple openings measured at two inches square. The doors are 24 inches wide and 5 foot 11 inches tall. In one corner is a concrete foundation that was used to support a toilet. Along one wall, just below the ceiling, is a metal pipe whose function is not known. The door to the inside is 36 inches by 7 feet. There is one window that is on the east wall and centered between the wall and the cell. It measures 24 inches by 4.4 feet. The wooden roof of the cinder block building is in poor condition and collapsed in places. This structure conforms to Floor Plan 1d (see Floor Plans). It was recorded at TARL as historic site 41CD152. William Moore visited this calaboose on October 22, 2013.