Old Somervell County Jail -- Glen Rose TX
N 32° 14.087 W 097° 45.390
14S E 617158 N 3567138
The WPA-built old Somervell County Jail, now part of the Glen Rose Historic District
Waymark Code: WMTRCX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2017
Views: 10
This old jail served Somervell County for 50 years, before it was closed by the state for not meeting modern jail standards.
Now part of the Glen Rose Historic District, this jail building sports a local historical information sign affixed to the front of the jail. That sign reads as follows:
"OLD COUNTY JAIL
Built in 1934, funded as a WPA government project during the Depression, as a replacement for the first county jail built in 1884, located on the same site.
The new structure housed the sheriff and/or jailer plus his family on the lower floor; prisoners were upstairs. The jailer’s wife cooked meals for the prisoners. And woodstove was tended by the prisoners. The original cell cage sits in the middle of the room with the runaround for exercise and for lesser felons.
A jailbreak occurred in the 1960s when prisoners cut the bars at night and covered the cut with wax shoe polish. On another night later, they pried the bars back with a stick of stove wood, soap their bodies and slipped out the window to the ground. They were apprehended, though.
In the 1970s, the state of Texas condemned this building as a jail, forcing the county to build a new one. The county refurbished this building in 1991 for office space. The upstairs remains unchanged.
[Somervell County historical commission; Glen Rose/Somervell County Chamber of Commerce.]
Project type: Government building (non-park)
Date built or created: 1934
Location: Somervell County jail
City: Glen Rose
Condition: Good upkeep with a little wear and tear
Website for additional information: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To help give a different perspective and to better the waymark for future visitors please tell us about your visit and upload a favorite photograph you took of the waymark.
Although visiting this waymark in person is the only thing required of you to receive credit for your visit, taking the time to add this information is greatly appreciated.