Marion

Front View

Darryl Pearson found this interesting calaboose located at the water treatment plant in Marion. It was moved to this location with the hopes of restoring it.  There is no floor and unfortunately it is resting directly on the ground.  The iron doors are missing.  It was measured at 11′ 9″ across the front and 23′ 6″ on the sides (282 square feet).  It is 8′ 10″ tall (not counting the attached roof).  There are two windows on each side and they measure 3′ 3″ wide by 2′ 10″ high.  This calaboose has two rooms with doors at each end.  It is similar in design to the jails in Cameron (Milam County) and Grapeland (Houston County) who conform to Floor Plan 2e (See Floor Plans) except they do not have a door in the wall separating the two cells.  The two cells have vents on the roof that probably were connected to heaters.

The original construction was wooden boards (probably 2″ x 4″ in size) laid on top of one another to create a stronger wall.  Examples of this type of construction include calabooses at Hermleigh (Scurry County) and Riesel (McLennan County).   At this time, the walls are covered with modern tin.  The roof is tin as well but it could be original.  The cell at the front (as shown in the picture above) has two metal bunks attached to the back wall.  The top bunk is rather high and would have required a ladder to reach it.  The two metal bunks in the rear cell are mounted on the opposite side of the same wall.  This calaboose fits the definition of Floor Plan 2e (see Floor Plans). This jail has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41GU189.

The original location of this calaboose and its age are not known at this time.  It is similar to other calabooses on this website in that it has been used for storage.  There are wooden shelves on the back wall and the interior is littered with various trash and a few street signs.

Side View

Interior View of Front Room 

 Window Detail