DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Old Hidalgo County Jail. S. W.
Brooks built this two-story jail in 1886 — and if that name sounds familiar, it ought to, because Brooks also put up the courthouse standing right nearby. The man had a busy hand in shaping this corner of South Texas. Now, 1886 was not a quiet time in Hidalgo County.
Outlaw raids were still occurring — that's not a colorful exaggeration, that's just what was happening — and a county jail was not a luxury, it was a necessity. Brooks built it in handmade brick, and if you look up along the roofline, you'll see a corbeled cornice, that stepped, decorative brickwork that says somebody cared enough to make a hard building a little bit beautiful. That detail has a way of catching you off guard.
Then, in 1904, something unexpected moved into this sturdy old lockup. A newspaper. 'The Hidalgo Advance' — the city's very first newspaper — set up and published right here from 1904 to 1908. Now there's a pairing for you: a press and a jail sharing the same address, which, depending on who you ask, might not be all that unusual.
The jail served Hidalgo County all the way through those years, until 1908, when the seat of government was moved from Hidalgo to Chapin — a place the marker tells us is now called Edinburg. When the county seat moved, the old jail's purpose moved with it. But the building remained, handmade brick and all, still standin' as a testament to a rougher, livelier time on the South Texas frontier.
What the marker says
Built in 1886 by S. W. Brooks, who also constructed the nearby courthouse, this jail served Hidalgo County during a turbulent period in its history, when outlaw raids were still occurring. The city's first newspaper, "The Hidalgo Advance," was published here from 1904 to 1908. The two-story jail, which features handmade brick and a corbeled cornice along the roofline, served the county until 1908, when the seat of government was moved to Chapin (now Edinburg). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984