LAST - Original Building of Townsite, Coldspring, TX
Posted by: 
jhuoni
N 30° 35.767 W 095° 07.706
15R E 295932 N 3386771
As with many towns in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a fire destroyed many wood frame buildings. In a odd way, this building and I share a connection.
Waymark Code: WMYKW7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/26/2018
Views: 3
There are two Texas Historical Markers on property:
Old San Jacinto
County Jail
Approved by the Commissioners Court in 1886 and completed the following year, this structure served as the San Jacinto County Jail until 1980. Interior space included second floor cells and jailers living quarters on the ground floor. Victorian detailing is reflected in the brickwork and arched windows. The only remaining structure of the original townsite. It now serves as a historic reminder of Coldspring in the 1880s.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982
San Jacinto
County Jail
Noted for rare but never used hangman's trap. Second jail for San Jacinto County which was organized 1871, this structure was built in 1887 by L. T. Noyes of Houston. Later, the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio installed cells and the unusual execution device. That firm also built annex in 1911.
In 1915 San Jacinto County's frame courthouse burned. When a new brick courthouse was built a quarter-mile to the southwest, axis of the town shifted from area of the jail, which still serves its official role. (1971)
From TSHA Handbook of Texas
"The courthouse burned in 1915, and the townsite was moved to its present, more elevated, site. The old town is now marked only by the old San Jacinto County Jail, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and became a registered Texas landmark in 1982."
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On a personal note: Southern Structural Steel Company became Southern Steel Company and is now Southern Folger after a 2005 acquisition of Folger Adams Company. My relationship with Southern Steel began in 1976 when my mother became personnel director of this company. Over the next ten to fifteen years three more members of my family would join the Southern Steel Family. Two of my brothers worked in fabrication, one became a draftsman. I worked in the “Lock Shop”, mechanical locks and keys were my forte. I can honestly say that about 95% of all jail keys manufactured during the time I was emoloyed at Southern Steel were machined by one person - ME. Thirty plus years have passed, I thought it was interesting how this building and I were connected.