DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the only gospel I'm preachin' from today, so let's see what it says. Now, Taylor County got itself organized in July of 1878. That's the easy part of the story.
The hard part is what came next, because the county had its paperwork in order long before it had anywhere to put it. See, that first courthouse and jail — the one that would eventually hold the Ernie Wilson Museum — didn't get finished until May 20th, 1880. Nearly two years of delay, and the marker doesn't let you forget why: Indian scares, and a lack of funds.
Two problems with a way of feeding each other, if you think about it. You can't build when you're watching the horizon, and you can't watch the horizon when your pockets are empty. But they finished it.
Limestone blocks, solid and stubborn as the county itself. And here's a detail worth slowing down for — look close at those walls, because the marker tells you to. Cannon balls are keyed right into the limestone, marked by arrows so you don't miss them.
Stone and iron, locked together. Make of that what you will. As for what went on inside those walls once they were standing — the marker doesn't dress it up, and neither will I.
Frequent jail breaks. Lynchings. This building saw things that don't belong in the tall tale register, things that belong in the quiet, heavy part of a campfire where nobody's laughing.
Taylor County's first courthouse and jail held the law, and sometimes the law didn't hold. That building's still standing. The Ernie Wilson Museum lives inside it now.
Limestone doesn't forget what it witnessed, and neither should we.
What the marker says
Located in Taylor County's historic first courthouse and jail. Although Taylor County was organized in July 1878, the building was not completed until May 20, 1880, because of Indian scares and lack of funds. Scene of frequent jail breaks, lynchings. Note cannon balls (marked by arrows) keying limestone blocks. (1964)