Falls County

Lott

I received a comment from Bill Strangmeyer in reference to my recently published article in Texas Co-op Power magazine that was published in June 2015. He claims to have spent a night in the calaboose in Lott, Texas in 1961 after a “spirited disagreement with the local Constable.” There are no Sanborn maps for Lott that are available at this time. Mr. Strangmeyer recalls that it was east of Main Street and on the north side of town. He describes it as one room approximately 12 feet by 12 feet in size with a dirt floor. There was one iron door with bars and the only furnishings were a metal frame that served as a cot or bed.

According to local historian Edward Sliva, the calaboose mentioned above was the first jail in town. It was made of brick and demolished when highway 77 was rerouted through town. He said that in the 1920s or 1930s the City Marshall was escorting a drunk to the calaboose. The drunk was carrying a pistol and he shot and killed the Marshall before he could be locked up.

Mr. Sliva also recalled that there was a second calaboose that may have been built in the 1950s during the oil boom. It was concrete and had three cells arranged side by side. It is also gone.

Marlin

According to Ed Blackburn, Jr. (2006:115-11), the first jail in Falls County was built in 1852 and was a “standard” 14′ x 16′ dungeon with two stories of double-walled, hand-hewn logs at the corner of Craig and Newton streets. In 1868, the court ordered that a new contract be awarded to build a new jail on the same location and with some of the same materials. Blackburn states that there is no description or pictures of this jail. In 1879, a new jail was proposed for the same location but protests by the local citizens caused it to be moved to the west side of the courthouse square instead.

The Sanborn map dated 1885 is the earliest available at the time of this study. It depicts a one-story wood calaboose in the town of Marlin, Texas between the courthouse and county jail in the public square on the west side of the courthouse. It also shows the 1879 jail that was made of brick and adjacent to the calaboose. The brick jail varied in height from one to two stories. Edward Northcraft was the contractor for the construction of this jail. The photo below, used courtesy of The Texas Collection, shows the wooden calaboose, the 1879 jail, and the 1886 courthouse. This may be the only photo in existence of these buildings at that time. The calaboose had a pyramid roof and the walls were wooden boards attached vertically. There was a wooden fence that appears to have enclosed the calaboose and the county jail. The next jail was built by the McKenzie Construction Company in 1915 at a cost of $23,425 and in the same location as the previous one. It was demolished in 1946 when a new jail was constructed elsewhere in town.

A calaboose not mentioned by Blackburn or the other sources I consulted is depicted on the Sanborn maps. In 1889 (Sheet 2) there was a small one-story wood calaboose at 505 Common Street (block 4). In 1894 (Sheet 3), 1899 (Sheet 4), and 1903 (Sheet 4) it was at 504 Common Street (lot 9). It was gone from this location in 1909.

Blackburn states that the first jails were located at Craig and Newton streets next to the courthouse. These street names are not present on any of the Sanborn maps shown below. Perhaps the names were changed sometime before 1885.