Post

This brick jail is located north of the courthouse on Main Street.  It is too large for a calaboose.

I learned about it from a  reader of my website. It is the only one in my current sample of 282 calabooses with a facade like this.  The windows are rather large for a calaboose but given the size of the building, they seem to fit nicely.  They are secured with nine round metal bars placed vertically and three placed vertically for added strength.  There are no windows or other possibility of air flow on the sides or rear wall. From the front, it appears that the roof is relatively flat, perhaps with a gentle pitch.  However the side view shows what appears to be tin roofing that may have been added later. It is one of the taller jails at 14 feet from the ground and it occupies a footprint of 480 square feet. The only entrance is through a solid metal door with no windows or vents.The interior contains two cells made by the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio and it is the only one on this website that can be traced to that company.  The two  cells were opened and closed by two levers. Upon entering the building, there is a narrow empty space that spans the entire front of the jail. In line with the outside door is a metal door to a large cell that has four beds on the back wall. The second cell is to the right and accessed by a door at the bottom left corner just above an extension of the linear empty space mentioned above. It has two beds on the left wall.

Another brick building was built in the 1970s by the city as a space for additional storage and it adjoins the jail. It is very difficult to get good images of the interior of the jail because of the large number of items stored therein. During the life of the jail, electricity was probably not available but it was added later. Walter Perez is one of the maintenance workers for the city of Post and he measured the structure for me and answered my many questions. This jail has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41GZ936.