Old Dallas County Criminal Courts Building - Dallas, TX - Retired Prisons on Waymarking.com

Completed in 1915, the old Dallas County Criminal Courts Building is located right across the street from the old Dallas County (a.k.a. "Old Red") Courthouse.

While its first couple of floors were indeed devoted to courtrooms and administration offices of Dallas’ criminal courts system, it was -- by most accounts at the time of its inauguration -- primarily a county jail, connected to the Dallas County Courthouse via a tunnel system.

When originally completed, the building was the pride of the town: one of the country’s most modern -- and attractive -- jails designed to look like an office building. Here is how it was described by the Texas Trade Review and Industrial Record back on March 1st, 1915:

"This building, representing an entirely new type of building for the administration of justice in prison architecture in this country, was designed by H.A. Overbeck, architect, Dallas, after making a study of all modern architecture of this nature hitherto built in this country. It will cost approximately $550,000 [personal note: the building ended up costing a little more than $675,000 — around $15.8 million in today’s money]. It has the character of a modern business administration building of the skyscraper type in the Italian Renaissance style. The building is eleven stories high with deep basement and tunnel connecting with old courthouse. It is absolutely fireproof in construction with reinforced concrete skeleton frame. The base is red granite. The first story is rusticated buff granite terra cotta and the same material is used for the trimming throughout. The walls above are red velvet brick. The basement has complete heating and ventilating plant with air washing equipment, also complete power plant. Two stories are devoted to the Dallas County criminal courts and justice courts, with rooms pertaining thereto. Two floors are occupied by the women’s cell rooms, matron’s apartments, hospital and work rooms. There are two main cell rooms for men: the races being segregated. There will be accommodations for about 500 prisoners. All cells are of the most modern type and construction of tool-proof steel, specially designed sanitary plumbing fixtures in each cell, forced ventilation – the air being washed and filtered and tempered to a uniform temperature. Special designed electric lighting, Watchman’s clock signal and telephone systems. Four electric prison elevators especially designed for this building. Ample provision for insane prisoners in special quarters, with padded cells for violent prisoners."

Famous characters that have spent time here include Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde); Raymond Hamilton (a member of the Barrow gang), and Harvey Bailey, once known as "the dean of American bank robbers."

The Criminal Courts Building / Jail earned its first measure of notoriety in 1925 when a lynch mob nearly took over; Gene Autry memorialized that moment in the early 1930's with "The Dallas County Jail Blues" tune. Nowadays, its biggest claim to fame has been the role it played after the JFK assassination: alleged JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was going to be taken from the Dallas City Jail to this location on Sunday, November 24, 1963 when he was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Ironically enough, it was Jack Ruby who was ultimately incarcerated in this specific building and who was tried in one of the building's downstairs courtrooms in 1964.

The building has been largely abandoned since in the mid-1960s: one courthouse was refurbished in the 1980's for use as a probate court, but the entire structure -- and most importantly, all the upper floor jail cells -- closed in the mid ’90s. The building is now in serious need of restoration, and as of 2014 -- 50 years after JFK's assassination, there are talks to revitalize it to its old glory.

For additional "inside" pictures and a very interesting read on the history of this supposedly "humane jail" (with apparently a hospital, barber shop, provisioning of organ music -- but also three death cells and a hanging room on the top floor), see the following PDF article from the Dallas County Chronicle: (visit link)

Address: 501 Main St. Dallas, TX USA 75202 Open to the public: No Hours: N/A -- the building is in serious need of restoration, but as of 2014 there are talks to revitalize it to its old glory. Fees?: none Web link: [Web Link]

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