San Antonio

The first Sanborn map for San Antonio was published in 1877.  On Sheet 1 there is a two-story stone jail and city offices surrounded by a 15′ high stone wall.  In 1885, the city jail is still there and a two-story county jail had been constructed on Camaron Street (Sheet 8).  In 1896 (Sheet 6), the county jail is still there but the city jail is gone.  The calaboose referred to in the 1858 article was not found on the 1877 Sanborn map.  It seems likely that the two-story county jail that was present in 1877 was the one that the 1879 article discusses.  If there was a calaboose in 1879, I did not find it.

I learned of a previous calaboose from newspaper articles sent to me by Bob Skiles. The first article (attached) appeared in the Civilian and Gazette Weekly (published in Galveston) dated May 11, 1858 (Vol. 21, No. 16).  It describes an attempt to escape that was thwarted.  I plan to go through the Sanborn maps for San Antonio again to see if I can find either of these calabooses.

The second article appeared in The Daily Banner (published in Brenham) dated July 8, 1879 (Vol. 4, No. 162).  It reports that the Blacks in San Antonio have a “holy dread of being locked up in the cooler over night” because of a local legend that “the spirit of Jenkins, the negro murderer, haunts the calaboose …. ”  This article was not posted here because of racial language common during those days.