Old Marathon Jail -- Marathon TX
N 30° 12.271 W 103° 14.809
13R E 668755 N 3342746
The old Marathon Jail, long abandoned and out of use
Waymark Code: WMV0MR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/03/2017
Views: 4
The handsome local-stone Marathon Jail has a creepy armless and legless mannequin torso propped up against the bars. It looks like at some point it was a historical attraction, but now it's just forgotten.
The Marathon Jail looks like it dates from the late 19th century.
Some brief history from the city's website: (
visit link)
"ATTRACTIONS
Marathon Jail - A windmill located in the middle of Marathon's North First Street served as an early jail for drunkenness and petty crimes. The offender being chained to a leg of the windmill.
Other structures were used to serve as a jail, however, as a result of numerous colorful escapes, it became apparent to the citizens that a better 'Calaboose' was needed. Rocks were then dug from a ledge on the northwest part of town and a jail was built to the south of the old Ritchey store. (This is the waymarked jail -- BMB) Upon completion of the upgrades to the cells in Alpine, the old ones were sent to Marathon.
(Except from the Magnificent Marathon Basin, Annejo P. Wedin 1989)"