Castroville

This limestone building is on private property.  it was located by Darryl Pearson and he shared what he learned with me.  According to some local informants, this was the first jail in Castroville and it dates to sometime between 1885 and 1890.  Others have categorically stated that it never was a calaboose.  Until I learn the truth, it will remain posted here.

The wood overhang in the front is not original. Darryl measured it at approximately 12′ across the front and 14′ on each side (182 square feet).  There is one door centered in the front that is made of wood. It is not known if it is original or a later addition.  It measures 3′ by 7′.

One of the unusual features of this building is the number and type of windows.  There are three on each side, three in the rear, and two in the front.  All windows are 2′ high by 5″ wide.  The walls are 12″ thick.   There are two openings at the top of the front that are about 4″ by 4″.  Their purpose is not known as they are too small to have been used as windows.

 It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41ME256.

Castroville

Darryl Pearson found this calaboose and told me about it.  Rhonda Holley visited it with me on August 5, 2016.    It is owned by the city and informants at City Hall said that it was built sometime in the 1920s.  It has two cells of equal size that are secured by iron doors with windows that could have been used to feed or view the prisoners inside. This calaboose is unique in that the windows on the doors are not the same size or shape. Most of the wall that separated the cells was removed so that the entire space could be used for storage.

It faces approximately northwest.  In order to create more space, the window on the northeast side was removed and a new door was added.  “Medina County, Flammable Product Storage Area” is written on the door facing. The bricks used in the construction of this calaboose closely resemble those mad by the factory at D’Hanis.

Darryl measured this structure at 12′ 6.5″ across the front and 12′ 1″ on each side (152.5 square feet).  The roof has a slight pitch from front to back.  The height at the front is 9′ 7″ and the height at the back is 8′ 5″.  Also, the roof extends outward from all four walls about 12″.  It conforms to floor plan 2a (see floor plans).

The front doors were welded shut at the time of my visit.   The only access is through the door on the northeast side.  The door the left is 30″ wide by 6′ 10″ high and flush with the face of the building.  The window in the center of the door measures 11″ wide by 15″ high.

The door on the right is recessed into the front of the building about 4.5″.  It measures 32″ wide by 8′ feet high.  The is only the second calaboose in the current sample with doors that are not equal in size.  The other is in Quemado (Maverick County).

There is only one window and it is on the northwest side.  The metal bars are missing.  It appears that part of the opening for the window was closed in at some point but this has not been confirmed.  Most of these calabooses with two cells are symmetrical in terms of placement of doors and windows.  A local informant told Mr. Pearson that her parents used to feed the prisoners. She believes that it was still being used in the 1950s.

Corner View Depicted Steeply Pitched Roof

This calaboose has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41ME257.

D’Hanis

This two-cell calaboose faces northeast and is located behind a row of brick commercial buildings on Front Street in D’Hanis on private property.  The D’Hanis Brick and Tile Company was founded in 1883 and used local clay to produce its early hand made bricks.  In 1905, kiln fired bricks were being produced in D’Hanis.  T. Lindsay Baker’s book entitled “Building the Lone Star” (published by Texas A&M University Press in 2000) discusses civil engineering marvels around Texas and contains examples of structures made with D’Hanis brick.  This calaboose was made using both hand made and fired bricks.  The exterior walls, floor, and partition between the two cells are composed of this brick.  On the rear wall rows of milled lumber were fastened to wooden supports with wire nails and bolts.

I was not able to find the date it was built.  However, an article in The Hondo Anvil Herald (Vol. 21, No. 52, Ed. 1) dated August 10, 1907 reports that the D’Hanis Constable (W. H. Hearne) was in Hondo on the 8th of August and told the paper that a subscription list was being circulated in D’Hanis for the purpose of erecting a calaboose.

The roof is a wooden frame covered with tin and is slanted at a rather steep angle from front to back.  The two doors are equal in size (34″ x 83″) and each one has a small window (8″ x 8″) in its approximate center that contained three round metal bars placed vertically within the door frame. One of the bars is missing from the door to the left.  The other door is a replica that was created by Pat McGraw of D’Hanis.  He used modern rebar to replicate the bars in the other door.   The exterior of the calaboose measures 10′ x 20′ (200 square feet).  Ventilation and light was provided by two windows (25′ x 31″) that are centered on the back wall behind each cell.  The windows are held in place by a wooden frame and security is provided by round metal bars.  The exterior of this structure is in good condition but the interior is not.  Virtually all of the brick wall between the two cells has collapsed and the brick floor is non-existent.

John J. McGraw was a local Constable who was responsible for putting the bad guys in the D’Hanis calaboose.  He was elected in 1942.  According to Volume 5 of the “Record of Election Returns” for Medina County dated November 3, 1942, he defeated E. L. Brod by two votes (66 to 64) and became the Constable, J.P. for Precinct 4.

John J. McGraw circa 1950

His son (Pat McGraw) said that there was a saloon on Front Street and he remembers being told that it was not unusual for Sunday morning passersby to hear the voices of men who had been arrested the night before for minor offenses such as drinking too much or fighting.   Pat also stated that the windows were not that securely attached and there was an incident where two prisoners were able to push out one of the windows and escape.  They were later caught.

John J. McGraw’s Badge

Photo courtesy of Darryl Pearson

Unfortunately, this wonderful building was virtually destroyed by a tornado on October 30, 2015.  This calaboose conforms to Floor Plan 2a (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41ME248. 

Hondo

This unusual structure is located on the north side of the Medina County Courthouse on 15th Street. It is a one-story building made of brick. The interior consists of one open area or cell that is currently being used for storage. Entry is through two solid metal doors. The outside door is secured with a combination lock. This is the only calaboose with this type of lock.  Perhaps, it was later used for storage of important materials and the door with the combination lock was added.  Once inside this door, there is a second door that appears to open in two panels. The dimensions of this structure are 14′ x 14′ (196 square feet). Ventilation and light was provided by two large windows, one on each side. This structure does not appear on the Sanborn map dated 1909 (Sheet 1). It is present on the 1922 Sanborn map (Sheet 5) but it is not identified as to type of building or function. On the 1909 map the courthouse is a two story stone structure but on the 1922 map it is a two story brick building.  In situations where there was no formal county jail due to renovation or construction of a new one, it was not uncommon for a small calaboose to have been erected to be used during the interim.  This building may have served that purpose.  The double doors with a combination lock suggests that it may have also served as a vault that needed extra security.  The age of this calaboose has not been determined but Dottie Wolff remembers it being used as a jail as late as the 1950s.  This calaboose was locked at the time of my visit. The Floor Plan of this calaboose is not known (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41ME249. 

La Coste

This calaboose faces south and is in an alley that runs east west.  It is located on private property between Tarde and D’Hanis avenues behind the Duron Brothers Store at 15856 South Front Street in La Coste.  Most of the information below was taken from local historian Yvonne Chandler Ludwig who took time from her busy schedule to share her knowledge of this jail with me.

When this calaboose was built, the railroad required that only businesses be built on the street facing the tracts.  Therefore, the jail was built on the back part of one of the lots owned by the city.  The temporary workers employed by the railroad frequented the local saloons and it was not unusual for drunkards and persons charged with rowdy behavior to spend a night in the local calaboose along with those charged with more serious crimes.  In the early days of the town persons traveling from La Coste to the county seat (Castroville) transportation was by horse or horse and buggy.  There were times when those charged with the more serious crimes could not be taken to the county jail immediately due to poor roads and sometimes bad weather.  Thus, the local calaboose also served as a holding facility for some and just an overnight stay for others.

The town selected a local contractor named William Marcus Collins to design and build the current structure in 1915. Collins was charged with constructing a “two-cell, escape proof jail.” Materials needed for the construction were brought to the area by wagon. This calaboose was made with concrete using the poured in place method. Although pieces of metal wire were observed at one of the windows, it appears the the primary source of aggregate was small river cobbles. 

This building measures 7′ 8″ across the front and 16′ 6″ on the sides (129.48 square feet). The walls are one foot thick and slowly crumbling.  Ventilation was provided by two long narrow windows on each side that measure 2′ 6″ x 7″ and a smaller window on the back wall. Each window was imbedded in the concrete with metal bars placed horizontally and vertically.

Entry was through a solid metal door 2′ wide by 4′ 7″ tall.  The hinges are massive and a six inch long key was needed to operate the lock. The floor plan consists of two cells. The door was locked at the time of our visit and it was not possible to measure the size of the two cells, although they appear to be fairly equal in size. The two cells are  separated by a concrete wall and massive iron door. It is not known if any furnishings were inside but the plaque says that “Bathroom facilities were primitive in keeping with the times.”

Interior View 

Meals were prepared at the Constable’s house and brought to the prisoners and the cost was borne by the county.  According to Ludwig, the last known occupant was interred in 1960 for disorderly conduct.  Constables known to have served the town during this time have been identified as Ed Schmidt, August Weber, Henry Kauffman, Ed Etter, Pat Mangold, Alvin Santleben, and Nicho Duron.

When the jail was no longer needed, the city was not successful in its attempts  to sell it. Finally, they simply sold the property and included the jail in the sale. Daniel C. Duron is now the site owner. This historic building received a plaque by the Ludwig International Collection of Kinships Enterprises on December 9, 2006 for its distinctive style, manner of construction, and the part it played in the history of La Coste. There were no Sanborn maps at the agencies visited for La Coste, Texas at the time of this study. The floor plan of this calaboose is described here as 2f  (see Floor Plans). The only other calaboose in the current sample with this floor plan is the one in Turkey.   It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41ME250.