Kimble County Jail

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Kimble County Jail. In 1892, when Judge W. A.

Spencer was holding court and commissioners G. R. Armstrong, J.

F. Cowsert, and H. W.

McCaleb were minding the county's business, Kimble County set about building itself a third jail. Now, you don't build a third jail unless the first two gave you reason to, and this time they were not taking any chances. The walls went up two feet thick; hewn stone, dressed and laid like the county had something to prove.

The whole fortress came in at a cost of three thousand one hundred and fifty dollars, which in 1892 was not pocket change. But they got their money's worth, because word spread that this building was, and I am quoting here, "as secure as Huntsville State Prison." That is a reputation you either earn or you don't, and the stone walls of Kimble County's third jail earned it. Among the many prisoners who found themselves behind those two-foot walls was one Gip Hardin, a killer held here in 1896, brother, as it happens, to noted badman John Wesley Hardin.

Some families leave a mark on a place. Some families leave a mark on a whole era. The Hardins, well, the walls of that old jail in Kimble County knew at least one of them, and they held.

What the marker says

THIS BUILDING, KIMBLE COUNTY'S THIRD JAIL, WAS ERECTED IN 1892 DURING THE TERM OF JUDGE W. A. SPENCER AND COMMISSIONERS G. R. ARMSTRONG, J. F.COWSERT, AND H. W. McCALEB. BUILT AT A COST OF $3,150, THE TWO-FOOT THICK HEWN STONE WALLS GAVE THE FORTRESS THE REPUTATION FOR BEING "AS SECURE AS HUNTSVILLE STATE PRISON". AMONG THE MANY PRISONERS HELD HERE WAS THE 1896 KILLER, GIP HARDIN, BROTHER OF NOTED BADMAN JOHN WESLEY HARDIN. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 1964