DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Now, Crockett County got itself organized, and about a year later, in 1892, they put up a jail. Not a temporary arrangement, not a back room somewhere.
A proper stone building, contracted out to a fellow named Z. D. Gafford, who came down from San Angelo to do the job right.
The building stone didn't travel far, either. They quarried it right there to the north of the structure, on the Meyers property. Convenient.
Economical. And built to last, which it did. Now here's the part that'll make you lean in a little closer around the fire.
That tower. The tower may have been designed for hangings. May have been.
But here's the thing, and I want you to sit with this: no gallows were ever installed. Whatever that tower was meant for, it never served that purpose. Not once.
So it just stands there, a question with no answer, looking out over Crockett County. The jail never filled to capacity, which I suppose is either a comfort or a sign of good behavior, depending on how you look at it. But it did see some business.
In 1954, the robbers of the Ozona National Bank found themselves as guests of the county inside those quarried stone walls. Now, the building had another life running alongside all that law-and-order business. In the sheriff's quarters, around 1915, the children of Ozona were coming and going for piano lessons.
Taught by the sheriff's wife. So on one side of the wall, you've got a tower that might have been built for hangings, and on the other, children learning scales. That right there is Crockett County in one building.
What the marker says
Built 1892, about a year after county's organization; contractor was Z. D. Gafford of San Angelo. Building stone was quarried to north of structure, on Meyers property. Tower may have been designed for hangings, but no gallows were ever installed. Though never filled to capacity, inmates have included the 1954 robbers of Ozona National Bank. In sheriff's quarters, Ozona children about 1915 took piano lessons from sheriff's wife. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.