Coke County Jail
Robert Lee, Coke County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Successor to county's first one-room jail of rough lumber built about 1891, this building was erected 1907 by Southern Structural Steel Company, San Antonio. Officials who let the contract were P.D. Coulson, county judge; C.M. Barger, S.W. Gaston, T.J. Goss, M.C. Jones, Commissioners. At least seven early sheriffs lived downstairs, acting as jailkeepers. The prisoners averaged about four a month, jailed only for short terms for minor law violations. Coke County never has had a felon assessed the death penalty. The gallows on second floor were never used. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1907 by the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio, this jail replaced Coke County's original one-room lumber lockup of about 1891. At least seven early sheriffs lived on the ground floor and doubled as jailkeepers, tending an average of only about four short-term prisoners a month. The gallows built on the second floor were never used—the county never sentenced anyone to death.
Why it matters
Sturdy steel-cell jails like this one mark the arrival of formal law and order on the West Texas frontier, and this one's unused gallows quietly testify to a county's peaceable history.
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Themes & tags
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