The Hays County Jail’s Moveable Jail Cell in San Marcos is one of nine sites that a statewide preservation group has named to its ninth annual list of Texas’ Most Endangered Historic Places.
The moveable jail cell was constructed for the Hays County Jail in Kyle and, today, it is a rarity of its kind. The cells were referred to as a “calaboose,” the Spanish word for jail, and were constructed using the cribbing method where the walls are arranged in sets of logs or timber in a log-style cabin formation to create a rising rectangle or square.
The jail cell remained in use until 1925 as Kyle’s city jail and, later, was moved to the Texana Village at Aquarena Springs. Due to lack of funding, the jail cell along with other buildings and artifacts were removed from the Village. At the eleventh hour, the jail cell was saved and moved to its current location at the San Marcos Academy.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Hays County 'moveable jail' looking to settle down
Here's a bit of Texas carceral history I was unaware of; reports the Hays County Free Press:
Im thinkin space ships full of convicts sent to other planets, it worked in Austrailia didnt it?/
ReplyDeleteFor the maritime version, check out Wiki's entry on "Prison Ship". New York City reportedly has a prison barge as an adjunct to Rikers Island. Some interestig marine correctional history. Brits were infamous for their prison hulks.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the portable jail was so they could stay one step ahead of the Safety inspectors?
ReplyDelete"A moveable jail ... who'da thunk?"
ReplyDeleteThe fine lovable corrections officers who thought up "diesel therapy" which I believe may have contributed to Irwin Schiff* having a toe amputated. Another source said it was from having the wrong size boot.
*The income tax activist, the only author in America currently prohibited from selling his book (The Federal Mafia) or speaking in public about the tax laws. If you have a taste for the IRC his book is most interesting and his argument (technically there is no income tax on wages) is most interesting
There's a preservation group for everything. I used to have a book called "Nature Calls". There is a
ReplyDeletegroup for the preservation of outhouses!
I'm not surprised that it's saved for education. That's what was done with the prison ship...turned it into a museum.
Now, is Texana village one of those "re-enactment" villages? What is San Marcos?
--Lava--
Thanks for linking to our story. Be sure to check out the more thorough (and much more interesting) article about the old jail after we post it Monday morning.
ReplyDeleteAccording to historical accounts, the city of Kyle stopped using its little wooden jail after "going dry" -- the lockup was no longer needed with no more drunks stumbling through town.
- Wes Ferguson, editor