Grapeland Calaboose - Grapeland, TX - Retired Prisons on Waymarking.com

There is a small granite plaque in front of the calaboose that provides an overview:

Grapeland Old City Jail
(Calaboose or Hoosegow)

Built by private subscription during the incorporation of Grapeland in 1906. Originally located on the east side of town across and down the road from the Old Christian Church.

Moved to railroad property and re-roofed during Grapeland's Centennial in 1972. Moved to its present location and rebuilt in 2016 with funds provided by Grapeland Economic Development Corporation.

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The Tiny Texas Jails website (see below) is a great resource, and while this calaboose's page could use an update to note its relocation -- a street view on Google Maps still shows it on Main Street -- it does elaborate considerably. This is a two cell calaboose, the interior not open to the public, with two barred windows on each side of each cell, with an entrance at both ends. A "Jail" sign is above the front entrance. Tiny Texas Jails elaborates a bit about the original location, and how the local kids would talk to the prisoners and sometimes be directed to pick up cigarettes for them.

By the 1930s, the calaboose had been retired and became a chicken coop. Unfortunately, there are no Sanborn maps to shed any additional light. Interestingly, the website is a bit at odds with the plaque, noting that the City of Grapeland acquired the calaboose during the Texas Sesquicentennial (1986) and moved it here, unless they mean that 1986 is simply when the city made the acquisition.

Address: 100 block W Oak St Grapeland, TX USA 75844 Open to the public: Yes Hours: Viewable 24/7, best during daylight hours Fees?: None Web link: [Web Link]

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