Crandall
This brick calaboose is on private property in downtown Crandall, Texas. The roof with wooden trim and corrugated tin is the only one like this in my sample. Perhaps the original roof was replaced with tin. It is on private property in downtown Crandall. Although its condition is not the best, the current owner has no plans to demolish it. The floor is concrete and there was no plumbing or electricity. There is only one window and it is on the rear wall. It is small and measures 14″ by 18″. It measures 8.25 ‘ across the front and 8.41’ on the sides (69.38 square feet) and is one of the smallest that I have recorded so far. The door is wood with metal bars and is unlike any of the other calaboose doors I have seen. The lock is especially interesting. It was made by Rollie Fastener Co. with a patent date of 1912. There is other writing but I was not able to read it because it was obscured by a thick coat of paint. Thanks to Bill Koleszar for the taking the pictures. This calaboose conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans). This calaboose has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41KF170.
Detail of Door
Back of Calaboose
Detail of Lock
Kemp
This calaboose is located in downtown Kemp, Texas on a vacant lot owned by the city. It is behind City Hall on the corner of East Eleventh Street and South Main Street. On the Sanborn map, it is located just east of the Texas and New Orleans (now Southern Pacific) Railroad tracks and on the north side of 11th Street. The date of construction is not known, but it appears on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map (Sheet 2) dated March 1921 and is referred to as a jail. This is the only map prepared by Sanborn for this town. According to the plaque outside the jail, it was constructed sometime during the early 1900s. A plaque on the front makes the claim that Bonnie Parker and another member of the Clyde Barrow Gang were held here in 1932. This claim appears to be substantiated by city minutes, newspaper articles, and mention in a book by John Neal Phillips entitled Running with Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults published by The University of Oklahoma Press (pp. 93-95).
This is a very stout building made of well fired brick. It measures 3.33 meters across the front and 3.65 meters across the side (130.8 square feet). The height is 2.69 meters. The metal door is made from quarter-inch steel and is massive. There are two small windows (28 x 34 cm), one on each side, with two rows of horizontal bars. The ceiling, as viewed from the interior, is made from quarter-inch iron sea channel. On the outside of each corner are metal bars, but their function is not known. On the inside, is a metal ring that may have been used to shackle something (possibly a prisoner). At one corner, there is a wooden electric pole that appears to date to the early 20th century because of the presence of brown ceramic insulators. There is no evidence that electricity from this pole was available inside the jail. This structure conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41KF164.
Rosser
Front View
This calaboose is in downtown Rosser on the grounds of the Rosser Sanctuary that is located at the corner of Main and Howard streets. The owner and date of construction are not known. Since it was made with concrete using the poured in place method, it probably dates to sometime during the early part of the 20th century. The floor is also concrete but the roof is missing. There was no plumbing or electricity. The aggregate used to bind the concrete consisted of small pebbles that are visible in areas where they have become exposed due to weathering. Including the foundation, there were 11 pouring episodes to reach the desired height. This calaboose consists of two cells of equal size and there are two small windows for each cell. They measure 6′ by 13″ and each one has three round metal bars placed vertically and evenly spaced. The interior contains no furniture of the period and this building is being used for storage. The front doors are also missing but the openings in which they were originally placed measures 24 “. The calaboose measures 9′ 2″ on the sides and 8′ 3” across the front and back (76.36 square feet). This calaboose is very near the old railroad depot and water tower. The floor plan is a variation of Floor Plan 2a. This structure is clearly visible on Google Earth and faces Howard Street in a generally southeast direction. The southeastern side is too close to a fence. Therefore, it could not be examined closely. No Sanborn map for Rosser was available at the time of my visit. This calaboose conforms to Floor Plan (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41KF166.
Side View