Robertson County Courthouse and Jail - Franklin, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

When completed, the courthouse was an outstanding example of Second Empire style. The south (main) facade is a five-part composition with corner pavilions, center pavilion, and connecting components all crowned with Mansardic roofs relieved with dormers made of galvanized iron. Rising above the center is a triangular pediment surmounted by a Mansardic roof with convex curvature, containing clocks. The east and west fronts are comprised of three part compositions, also originally crowned with Mansardic roofs. The north facade consists of one prominent mass flanked by pavilions. (This was removed in the 1923 remodel and restored in the 2014 restoration).

Located on the northwest corner of the square, the jail was on a T-shaped plan. The main section (bar of the T) of the jail is 49 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The groundfloor story height is 12 feet in the clear. On the ground floor a central hall provides circulation to the kitchen, a large room (parlor?), and the cell rooms. Containing cells, the second story of this section is 11 feet clear. Facilitating segregation of prisoners a rear extension (stem of the T) is 27 feet wide and 36 feet deep with 18 feet clear from floor to ceiling. Cells 7 feet by 8 by 7 are of hardened iron and steel, "saw and file proof," manufactured by the P.J. Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri. These were moved from an old jail in Calvert. In addition, the other miscellaneous iron work was reused.