Deport Calaboose - Deport, TX
N 33° 31.732 W 095° 18.929
15S E 284974 N 3712320
The old Deport calaboose stands below the city water tower at the end of Main Street, where it turns west and becomes Monroe Street.
Waymark Code: WM12AFR
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2020
Views: 3
The town is named for Colonel Dee Thompson, who wanted a place near Mustang Creek to water his horses, and come the time to give the post office a name, he was honored. It's pronounced DEE-port.
Unfortunately, as of this posting, the Tiny Texas Jails website is offline. However, the work upon which it's based is William E. Moore's "The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails", which has nice color photographs and brief histories of many of Texas's surviving calabooses. For this calaboose, Mr. Moore contacted the owners of the Deport Times to provide some history. The calaboose was probably constructed in 1937 when the town was incorporated. Moore mentions that the calaboose was in another part of town, moved to this location in the 1980s, but a look at a Sanborn map from 1943 shows the calaboose was forty-one feet northwest of the water tower. It originally sat on logs, with a dirt floor, but when it was moved, it was placed atop a concrete slab, and some work was done on the roof and siding. It is constructed of wood, with boards grouped together to provide a 4" wide wall, covered with shiplap siding. It measures 10' by 10', with a metal roof, and there are barred windows on the door and two sides. An interesting feature, difficult to see and photograph, is a metal pipe in the wall that was used as a urinal, tilted upward and passed through the wall to the outside for drainage. The drain hole has since been covered. You may visit the calaboose at any time, but the door is locked. Daylight hours are your best option, as the locals definitely notice visitors. They'll wave to you by day, but if you're snooping around at night ...