1927 Montague County Jail

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the 1927 Montague County Jail. Now settle in, because even a jail has a story worth tellin'. This wasn't the first time Montague County needed a place to lock folks up.

No, by the time 1927 rolled around, this was already the third structure to serve as the county jail. Third time, apparently, being the charm. The Southern Prison Company of San Antonio was the outfit that erected the building, and they knew what they were doing.

You want a jail, you call the people whose whole business is jails. What came out of that work was something that managed to be, well, practical and particular all at once. The first floor wasn't cells and iron bars.

It was living quarters, for the jailer and his family. Think about that for a moment. Somebody's home, right there on the ground floor, and six prison cells sitting directly above them on the second floor.

Morning coffee downstairs, and a whole different kind of morning happening upstairs. The building itself has some genuinely fine features for a structure of its purpose. An entry portico.

A stone cornice. Cast stone window sills. Simple tile detailing.

Details that say whoever built this wasn't just throwing up four walls and calling it done. And the building held that purpose for a long time. It kept serving as the Montague County Jail all the way until 1980, when a new facility was finally built to take over the job.

More than half a century of county business conducted under that cornice, in those cells, in that unusual household where the jailer's family lived just one floor below it all. Some buildings outlive their purpose and fade. This one just kept showing up for work.

What the marker says

The third structure to serve as Montague County Jail, this building was erected by the Southern Prison Company of San Antonio in 1927. The first floor contained living quarters for the jailer and his family, and six prison cells were maintained on the second floor. Used as a jail until a new facility was built in 1980, the building's architectural features include its entry portico, stone cornice, cast stone window sills, and simple tile detailing. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1991.