Beaumont

The Sanborn fire insurance maps for 1889 (Sheet 7) and 1894 (Sheet 8) depict a one-story wood jail in Beaumont, Texas. It was located in the courthouse square (city block 9).  The floor plan suggests two rooms were present. This building appears to be too big to conform to my definition of calaboose.  However, it is included here because of its historical significance to the history of early Texas jails.   In 1899 (Sheet 10) it had been replaced by a two-story brick county jail that was still there in 1941.  According to a spokesperson at City Hall, there is no small calaboose standing in Beaumont today.

Beaumont 1889

Port Arthur

No jails were seen on the 1900 and 1904 Sanborn maps. Two jails are depicted on the 1910 map (Sheet 11) in Port Arthur, Texas.  Both are in city block 141.  A small, one-story wood lockup was located directly across from 628 4th Street and adjacent to city lots 17 and 18 and a two-story stucco jail was across the alley on lot 16 in the same block as the Fire Department.   In 1915 (Sheet 4) the only jail present was a two-story brick building in the same area where the stucco jail stood. This jail was also there in 1918 (Sheet 4). It is not known if the photograph of the wood structure below is the old lockup depicted on the 1910 Sanborn map.

  Port Arthur 1910

 Port Arthur Calaboose – date not known

(Photograph courtesy of The Portal to Texas History)