Tioga
This tiny calaboose is located on Lamar Street in the city limits of Tioga, Texas twenty miles southwest of Sherman on U.S. Highway 377 in the southwest corner of Grayson County. The town was founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1896. In 1925, the population reached a peak of 777. I asked Donna Carney at City Hall for a more precise location and she said it did not have an address. It is on a vacant lot that is privately owned but the city is making plans to purchase it. The front of door is on the west side of the building that is made of local brick and has a tin roof. The door is heavy gauge metal and there are very small windows on the other three sides.
This calaboose measures 12 feet by 19 feet (228 square feet). I was unable to examine the interior. Donna Carney at City Hall does not know the date of construction but since Tioga was incorporated in 1906 this is probably the approximate date it was built or funds were authorized. It is depicted on the 1914 (Sheet 2) and 1922 (Sheet 3) Sanborn maps at 317 College Street and these are the last maps that were available at the time of this study. According to local historian James Hilliard, the jail was still used in the 1970s but mainly to lock up drunks. He said that at one time there was a hole in one of the walls and the offenders could escape in the morning when they were sober. That hole has since been repaired.
Ross Estes related his memories of living in Tioga to Robert J. Duncan who compiled and edited what he said for a book entitled I Remember Things: An Informal History of Tioga, Texas. The following quote is from that book.
Ol Doc got drunk one time and they put him in this little old calaboose out here. Had an iron door to it, and they locked him up in there. He’d got drunk, cussin’; the law took him down there and put him in that calaboose. It ‘us hot in there. He ‘us big and fat anyhow, and it ‘us summertime.
They was some little boys around there, and Doc, he looked out them little windows. He hired them boys to carry him water up there. They carried him water ‘til 12 o’clock. They ‘us just kids and they got sleepy and wanted to go home. He got them to go up to the house, then, and wake his wife up, and tell her to give him water ‘til after daylight.
This structure conforms to Floor Plan 1a (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41GS242.
Van Alstyne
This small calaboose is in Van Alstyne, Texas and is owned by the city. It faces south and is located behind city hall at 242 East Jefferson Street and next to the city water tower. According to an inscription on the front, it was constructed in 1947 by Fielder Tile. Names of persons associated with this structure are also inscribed on a brick on the front of the building. They are Mayor Henry D. Hynds, Commissioner Robert A. Veazey. Henry D. Benton, and C. Miller (Engineer). It was preceded by a calaboose that was in use in 1884 and one (perhaps the same one) in 1914 (See Vanished for details).
All of the people mentioned above, except for Miller whose background is not known, were prominent members of the community. Henry D. Hynds was mayor in the late forties. Henry D. Benton also served as mayor some years later. Robert A. Veazey was reportedly influential but his position was not recalled. Robert E. B. Fielder was a prominent community leader and proprietor of the local “lumber yard and hardware store.” All of the persons whose names appear on the façade of the calaboose are deceased, but descendents of some still live in town.
This calaboose was made of concrete blocks that were probably poured in place locally. The roof was also made using concrete that would have been poured into a wooden form. This process often results in creating a pattern that reflects the width and number of boards used and this is the case with the Van Alstyne calaboose. The building measures 13’ 11” across the front and 7’ 11” on the sides (110.2 square feet). The distance from the ground to the peak of the roof is 8’ 5”. There is one door that is centered in the front. It consists of round metal bars covered with a metal screen that has been painted silver. It measures 3’ 3” by 6’ 4”. The interior consists of two cells behind an open space. The doors are metal with bars. The door on the left was made using strap iron (flat bars) and the door on the right has a mixture of flat and round bars.
The cell doors measure 2’ 2” by 6’ 5”. The entry area or room is 4’ deep and covers the entire width of the structure. There are two windows on the back wall and each one is centered on the individual cells. They measure 1’ by 2’ 4”. There is a urinal in the cell on the left and Chief Ken Barnes said that there was one in both cells. Also, there is a sink in the common area next to the cell on the left and there was also one next to the other cell as well. A concrete slab that was used as a platform for a mattress is against the back wall of the cell on the right. According to Chief Barnes, it was used as a jail until sometime in the middle of the 1980s and as a dog kennel in the 1990s.
An article in the Norton’s Union Intelligencer (Vol. 9, No. 89, Ed. 1) dated August 23, 1884 reports that a Negro tramp ordered a Mrs. Mounger to prepare a meal for him. At that time, Mr. Mounger came home and ran the negro off with his shotgun. Marshal Lewis captured the tramp and locked him in the calaboose.
The first depiction of a calaboose in Van Alstyne is on the Sanborn map for 1914 (Sheet 2. That sheet shows a wooden calaboose located in the southeast corner of city block 3 next to the fire department at 509 Preston Street. It seems likely that
Rhonda K. Holley visited this calaboose on May 9, 2014 as part of the BVRA Texas Jail Survey. I am grateful to Wendelyn Tilleman (President, Van Alstyne Chamber of Commerce) for sharing her knowledge of this calaboose. This structure conforms to Floor Plan 2c (see Floor Plans). It has been recorded at TARL as historic site 41GS244).