The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails

by William E. Moore

Overview

A calaboose is, quite simply, a tiny jail. Designed to house prisoners only for a short time, a calaboose could be anything from an iron cage to a poured concrete blockhouse. Easily constructed and more affordable for small communities than a full-sized building, calabooses once dotted the rural landscape. Though a relic of a bygone era in law enforcement and no longer in use, many calabooses remain in communities throughout Texas, often hidden in plain sight.

In The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails, William E. Moore has compiled the first guidebook to extant calabooses in Texas. He explores the history of the calaboose, including its construction, use, and eventual decline, but the heart of the book is in the alphabetically arranged photo tour of calabooses across the state. Each entry is accompanied by a vignette describing the unique features of the calaboose at hand, any infamous or otherwise memorable occupants, and the state of the calaboose at present. Most have been long abandoned, but because many remain on city or town property, some have been repurposed into storage buildings or even government offices.

In certain ways, these small jails encapsulate the history of outlying communities during a time of transition from the “Wild West” to the twentieth century. Some of the structures have been preserved and cared-for, but despite the stories they can tell, many more are endangered or have already been lost. This definitive guide to tiny Texas jails serves as a record of a unique and disappearing feature of our heritage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623497163
Publisher:	Texas A&M University Press
Publication date:	01/23/2019
Series:	Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities , #29
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	102 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

WILLIAM E. MOORE is an archaeologist, a consultant, and the owner of Brazos Valley Research Associates in Bryan, Texas. He is the author of several books, including Bastrop County, 1691–1900, as well as articles in local and national magazines. He lives in Bryan. Visit the author’s website at www.tinytexasjails.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword T. Lindsay Baker xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 History of the Calaboose 11

Chapter 2 Cages and Cells 24

Chapter 3 Research Methods 31

Chapter 4 Construction Methods 38

Chapter 5 Calabooses 49

Arp 49

Bartlett 51

Bedias 53

Best 55

Boling 57

Brownfield 59

Burlington 60

Caldwell 63

Cameron 64

Camp Wood 66

Carbon 68

Castroville 69

Chillicothe 71

Clifton 73

Comfort 75

Crandall 77

Crawford 78

D'Hanis 79

Deport 82

Desdemona 83

East Bernard 85

Eden 87

Fayetteville 90

Flatonia 93

Florence 95

Fort Griffin 97

Frisco 99

Gause 102

Glazier 104

Goldsmith 105

Goree 107

Granger 108

Grapeland 110

Grapevine 112

Hermleigh 114

Holland 116

Holliday 117

Hubbard City 119

Jewett 121

Kemp 123

Kyle 124

La Coste 126

La Grange 127

Lakeview 129

Leonard 131

Linden 133

McGregor 134

Marble Falls 136

Marion 137

Marquez 139

Mason 140

Miles 142

Monahans 144

Moore 146

Moran 147

Odell 149

Pilot Point 150

Plaska 152

Port O'Connor 153

Powell 154

Presidio 156

Quemado 158

Riesel 159

Ringgold 161

Rochester 163

Rosebud 164

Rosser 165

Rowena 167

Royse City 168

Santa Anna 170

Seadrift 172

Sealy 174

Skidmore 176

Somerville 178

Spofford 181

Stiles 182

Stockdale 184

Thorndale 185

Tioga 187

Tivoli 188

Trenton 190

Turkey 191

Wallis 194

Weesatche 196

Wellborn 197

White Deer 199

Wortham 200

Chapter 6 Jails 203

Beeville 203

Comanche 205

Gail 207

Hearne 208

Henrietta 210

Jayton 212

Marathon 213

Memphis 215

Port Neches 216

Post 218

Sabinal-1 220

Sabinal-2 222

Trinity 223

Van Horn 224

Chapter 7 Cages and Cells 227

Athens 227

Blooming Grove 229

Crystal City 230

Dessau 231

Emory 233

Falls City 234

Helena 235

Hico 237

Knox City 238

Lampasas 240

La Pryor 241

Leakey 243

Lexington 244

Lockhart 246

Montgomery 248

Palo Pinto 249

Richland 251

Tyler 253

Valley Mills 254

Epilogue 257

Appendix A General Information, Calabooses 259

Appendix B General Information, Jails 263

Appendix C General Information, Cages and Cells 265

Appendix D Floor Plans of Calabooses 267

Appendix E Floor Plans of Cages and Cells 281

Notes 285

Bibliography 299

Index 307

Editorial Reviews

William E. Moore is an archeologist who digs into the Texas past. On these pages we read the fruits of his delving into unexpected places, little one- and two-room jailhouses found sprinkled across the whole of the Lone Star State. Calabooses typically were erected in small towns that were not county seats with proper jails. Instead these miniature lockups typically housed inmates only until they slept off the effects of alcoholic binges or until the more serious among them could be moved to the county jails. Thanks to Moore’s efforts, we now know where to go to examine these architectural vestiges of old-time law enforcement."
—T. Lindsay Baker, author of Gangster Tour of Texas
 

T. Lindsay Baker

This book is the only volume that addresses Texas calabooses in detail—structures that are almost completely forgotten but nonetheless remain surprisingly ubiquitous across the state.  The most ardent Texas and law enforcement history buffs will read it cover to cover straight through.  Most casual readers will likely seek out the towns they are familiar with on the first read and then work their way through the other jails afterwards. Others may use it more as a field guide. In any case, it will certainly find a home on my bookshelf.” —Jonathan H. Jarvis, author of Cemetery, Cementerio: Necrogeography at the Merrelltown Cemetery and Cementerio Guadalupe, Travis and Caldwell Counties, Texas
 

Jonathan H. Jarvis

The Texas Calaboose is a delightful, thorough history of these often overlooked, small, vernacular Texas buildings. The book includes current and historical photographic documentation and in-depth descriptions of the design and materials. It is comprehensive and an immediate valuable resource for professionals and Texas travelers alike.”—Anna Mod, director, MacRostie Historic Advisors Southwest

Anna Mod