Old Frio County Jail

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Old Frio County Jail, and friends, this one's worth slowing down for. The oldest building in town. Let that settle a moment.

Every courthouse, every storefront, every structure that came after, came after this one. Built in 1884, and the county did not skimp. Eleven thousand dollars.

That was not a modest sum, and the style was typical of the era, which is to say it meant business from the outside and meant even more business once you were inside. The second story and part of the first floor housed the jail itself. Two floors of order, or the attempt at it.

And the whole structure did double duty, because the jailer lived there too. Think on that. The man keeping the peace slept under the same roof as the men who'd broken it.

Some nights that must have been a very long roof. The building served as jail and jailer's residence all the way until 1967. That is a long run.

Then there's 1885, just one year after the doors opened, and already the county was making additions. Two separate cells were added, set aside for female prisoners, juvenile prisoners, or for the insane. The county was learning, as counties do, that one kind of trouble is rarely the only kind.

For years, a well right there on the premises supplied the water. No hauling, no fuss. Just a well, a jail, and a jailer keeping watch.

Now. Here is where the story takes a turn worthy of a campfire. During Prohibition, in the early twentieth century, law officers were confiscating bootleg liquor.

And that liquor had to go somewhere. So where did it go? Into one of the cells.

The very cells built to hold the lawbreakers were holding the evidence of the lawbreaking. Whether anyone considered that irony at the time, the marker does not say. But the oldest building in Frio County has seen a lot of things come and go through those walls, and more than a few of them came in bottles.

What the marker says

Oldest building in town. Built in 1884 for $11,000. Style typical of era. Used as jail and jailer's residence until 1967. Second story and part of the first housed jail. Two separate cells were added in 1885 for female or juvenile prisoners or for the insane. For years a well on the premises supplied water. During prohibition in early 20th century, confiscated bootleg liquor was stored by law officers in one of cells. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark--1970.