1925 Henderson County Jail

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Henderson County, Texas, and a jail that just would not quit. The county figured out as early as 1850 that it needed a place to lock folks up.

It took a few years to make it happen, but the first jail was completed in 1856 or 1857. They called it the Log Calaboose. Now that name alone ought to tell you something about the spirit of the place.

A log calaboose. Rustic, no-nonsense, and probably drafty as all get-out in January. But Henderson County was growing, and by 1874 a new jail went up, facing North Common Street.

Brick and ambition, a proper county jail at last. Then comes November 1, 1897. A fire breaks out in the Masonic Hall.

And when fire gets going in a town in those days, it doesn't politely stop at one building. The whole block goes up in flames, including the 1874 county jail. Just like that, Henderson County is back to square one.

The commissioners court didn't waste much time mourning. The very next year they ordered a new jail, new site and all. That building was completed in 1898 and served the county all the way until 1925.

By that point, though, the years had not been kind to it. The 1898 jailhouse had deteriorated, become unsafe, and in 1924 several county commissioners decided enough was enough. Repair it?

No. Build new. After some debate, construction was approved.

H.A. Overbeck of Dallas oversaw the design. The Pauly Jail Company supplied the iron bars and door locks.

You hire a company called the Pauly Jail Company, you know exactly what you're getting. The new jail was completed in 1925, built right on the same lot where the 1898 building had stood. Two stories, a basement, roughly 80 feet by 43 feet, American Gothic Revival style with some characteristics of Italian Urbanism.

That is a combination of architectural influences that sounds like it shouldn't work, and yet there it stands. Henderson County kept using that 1925 jail for decades, and when inmate populations grew, they added a side addition in the 1980s to compensate. By 1989, even that wasn't enough, and discussions began about a larger jail over on Murchison Street.

Prisoners were moved to the new jail in 1991. So what do you do with a building that's been a log calaboose's great-great-grandchild, that survived where others burned, that held the county's most unwilling residents for more than six decades? You put it to work another way.

The 1925 Henderson County Jail has served as a storage facility for the county clerk and county records, home to the Henderson County Archives, and it now houses the Henderson County Historical Commission offices. The old jail, keepin' its records straight after all these years.

What the marker says

AS EARLY AS 1850, HENDERSON COUNTY OFFICIALS REALIZED THE NEED FOR A COUNTY JAIL. THE FIRST JAIL WAS COMPLETED IN 1856 OR 1857. IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE LOG CALABOOSE. A NEW JAIL WAS BUILT IN 1874 FACING NORTH COMMON STREET. ON NOVEMBER 1, 1897, A FIRE BROKE OUT IN THE MASONIC HALL AND SOON THE ENTIRE BLOCK WAS IN FLAMES, INCLUDING THE 1874 COUNTY JAIL. THE NEXT YEAR, THE HENDERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT ORDERED A NEW JAIL AND SITE. THIS BUILDING WAS COMPLETED IN 1898 AND WAS IN USE UNTIL 1925. OVER THE YEARS, THE 1898 JAILHOUSE DETERIORATED AND BECAME UNSAFE FOR USE. IN 1924, SEVERAL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REQUESTED THAT A NEW JAIL BE BUILT INSTEAD OF REPAIRING THE OLD JAIL. AFTER SOME DEBATE, CONSTRUCTION WAS APPROVED WITH H.A. OVERBECK OF DALLAS OVERSEEING THE DESIGN AND THE PAULY JAIL COMPANY PROVIDING THE IRON BARS AND DOOR LOCKS. THE JAIL WAS COMPLETED IN 1925 ON THE SAME LOT AS THE 1898 BUILDING. THE 1925 HENDERSON COUNTY JAIL IS A TWO-STORY BUILDING WITH A BASEMENT, APPROXIMATELY 80 FEET BY 43 FEET IN AMERICAN GOTHIC REVIVAL STYLE WITH SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF ITALIAN URBANISM. THE BUILDING WAS EXPANDED IN THE 1980s WITH A SIDE ADDITION TO COMPENSATE FOR THE INCREASE OF INMATE POPULATIONS. BY 1989, THE COUNTY NEEDED MORE SPACE SO DISCUSSIONS BEGAN TO BUILD A LARGER JAIL ON MURCHISON STREET. PRISONERS WERE MOVED TO THE NEW JAIL IN 1991. THE 1925 HENDERSON COUNTY JAIL HAS BEEN USED AS A STORAGE FACILITY FOR THE COUNTY CLERK AND COUNTY RECORDS AND THE HENDERSON COUNTY ARCHIVES BUILDING. IT NOW SERVES AS THE HOME FOR THE HENDERSON COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION OFFICES.