Gainesville
The first Sanborn map available for Gainesville is dated 1885 and Sheet 3 depicts a small one-story wood calaboose with an address of 211 1/2 Pecan Street in city block 7. Its address is shown on the map as 211 1/2 Pecan Street. The description reads “calaboose not used” and that suggests that it pre-dates the 1.5 story rock county jail at 601 Dixon behind the Sheriff’s dwelling and guardroom on the same block. In 1888 (Sheet 2) the calaboose was no longer present. There was a wooden building in the same general area as the calaboose that appears to be the same size. It is labeled as a shed. Possibly, the calaboose structure was kept in place to serve a different purpose. The rock jail was still in the same location but the name of the street had been changed to South Dixon. There is depicted a one-story brick calaboose attached to city hall in city block 6. It is not possible to determine the exact size but it appears to be consistent with many of the calabooses discussed elsewhere on this website. It was still there in 1892 (Sheet 2), 1897 (Sheet 5), and 1902 (Sheet 10), but it was larger than the one depicted on the 1888 map. In 1892, 1897, and 1902, there are two addresses in the area of the jail. They are 113 South Dixon and 601 South Dixon. In 1908 (Sheet 4) and 1913 (Sheet 4) it was still there and the map shows it as occupying two addresses (113 and 115). Also, the map shows it as being 1.5 stories high. The overall footprint appears to be the same. In 1922 (Sheet 4) a new county jail had been constructed. It was made of reinforced concrete and was two stories high in the front and possibly taller in the back. It is possible that a temporary calaboose was constructed and used while the new courthouse was being erected but I did not find evidence of one so my conclusion for now is that the rock county jail continued to serve the community.
In Blackburn’s book The County Jails of Texas (2006:83), there is a quote that reads “There is no official record of a jail in Cooke County for the first eight years after the county was created. In May 1857 however, the court ordered lot 1 of block 16 set aside for a lockup. The first jail of record was built in 1858 under a contract to F. N. Hackney for sixteen hundred dollars. Double walls were built on a rock foundation 3′ wide and 2′ high. The walls were of hewn timber, and the second floor was 9′ above the first.” This jail does not fit my definition of a calaboose.
In 1874, a second jail was built and described as a 14′ square oak box with windows (page 84)
Gainesville 1885