County Jail of 1885

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it straight along to you. Way out in Gillespie County, there stands a two-story stone structure that's done more than its share of keeping the peace. This is the County Jail of 1885, and it's got a past worth slowing down for.

Gillespie County itself was organized in 1848, and by the time this building went up, the county had already cycled through three previous jails. Three. This one would be the fourth, and judging by how long it lasted, somebody finally got it right.

The firm of C. F. Priess and Bro. did the constructing in 1885, and they did not cut corners.

Stone walls, two full stories, built to hold. Now, the ground floor was where things stayed a little more civilized. That's where you had the holding area, and also the living quarters for the jailer himself.

The man who kept the keys lived right there in the building. Think about that the next time you complain about your commute. Up on the second floor is where the architecture got serious.

Two steel-clad cells sat against the east wall. And then, toward the center and the back, you had the maximum security cells. The deeper you went, the less you wanted to be there.

That building stood as the county jail facility from 1885 all the way until 1939, serving Gillespie County through decades of dust and drama and whatever else folks got themselves into out on the Hill Country. Four jails total, and this stone one outlasted them all.

What the marker says

This two-story stone structure served as the fourth jail for Gillespie County, organized in 1848. It was constructed by the firm of c. F. Priess and Bro. in 1885. The ground floor housed a holding area and living quarters for the jailer. the second floor had two steelclad cells located against the east wall and maximum security cells in the center and at the back. The building was used as a county jail facility until 1939. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980