Burnet County Jail
Burnet, Burnet County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1884 of hand-hewn rock. Has apartment for sheriff, who is also jailer. On second floor the county library was founded. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1884 of hand-hewn rock, the Burnet County Jail combined a lockup with living quarters for the sheriff, who also served as jailer in the frontier custom of the day. Its second floor became the unlikely birthplace of the county library, so that justice and learning shared a single stone building. It survives as a solid example of nineteenth-century civic architecture in the Texas Hill Country.
Why it matters
Early county jails like this one show how small frontier communities packed courthouse, jail, and even the public library into a handful of durable stone buildings.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Red Brick School
Burnet, TX
Pioneer Peter Kerr, who reached the future Burnet County in 1849 and laid out the town first called Hamilton, left money at his 1861 death to found a college in Burnet. Nephews had the will annulled, leaving only two acres for education, where a schoolhouse stood from 1874 until it was replaced in 1927 by the Red Brick School. That building served as a high school until 1942 and then housed the lower grades, standing today as a monument to the town's founders' commitment to schooling.
The Russell-McFarland Homestead
Burnet, TX
William and Mary Russell built this Victorian home in 1883–84; William, a Civil War veteran, went on to lead Burnet's school system for some fifteen years. After the house sold in 1895, its tenants included J. W. Edgar, a future state commissioner of education, and one of Texas's first game wardens. Since 1922 the McFarland family has owned and carefully preserved the residence. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1978.
Peter Kerr
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A Pennsylvania native and one of Stephen F. Austin's 'Old 300' original colonists, Peter Kerr took part in the 1836 war for Texas independence and made and lost several fortunes before buying a league of Burnet County land in 1851 that included Fort Croghan. Grown wealthy as an army beef contractor, he gave 100 acres and the town square for the county seat and willed a fortune in land and cash to found a college — a bequest later broken in court, leaving the town only a small school site. Neighbors said 'he never refused to help when he observed its need.'
Crownover Chapel
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Backbone Valley's first public building rose slowly between 1859 and 1870 on land donated by the heirs of settler Jefferson Barton, and was named for the Rev. Arter Crownover, whose Methodist preaching opened its doors. The chapel soon doubled as a school, and a cemetery came into use nearby by 1872. Restored to its original appearance, it still serves as a church and community center.