Hood County Jailhouse
Granbury, Hood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Second county jail. Celebrated in early local ballad. Built to succeed 1873 log jail at time when lawlessness was rampant. Main building is late Victorian in style. Separate stone kitchen was added upon completion. The tall front section was to have a gallows, but no hanging have occurred here. Jail admits some 55 prisoners yearly. "Uncle" Andy Walters, a local character, once locked sheriff in this jail, but left key with judge on way home. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built to replace an 1873 log lockup during a time when lawlessness ran high on the North Texas frontier, this late-Victorian stone jail was substantial enough to be remembered in a local ballad. Its tall front block was designed to house a gallows, though no execution was ever carried out there. Local lore even recalls a character who once locked the sheriff inside and dropped the key with the judge on his way home.
Why it matters
County jails like this one embody the hard work of establishing law and order across the settling American frontier.
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Related people
- · Andy Walters
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hood County Courthouse
Granbury, TX
This is the fifth courthouse to stand on Granbury's central square, succeeding a one-room log cabin of 1867 and three stone structures. Built in 1890–1891 of native limestone by architect W.C. Dodson and contractors Moodie & Ellis, it is a Texas rendering of the French Second Empire style, crowned by a clock tower added after completion. The tower was reinforced with steel in 1969 to preserve the landmark.
David L. Nutt Home
Granbury, TX
David Lee Nutt came to Texas from Missouri in 1857 and, in 1879, built this two-story plantation-style house of cypress lumber hauled by ox cart from East Texas. It soon became Hood County's first hotel — wryly dubbed "The Nutt House" — putting up the traveling salesmen, or "drummers," who called on Nutt's mercantile store, before reverting to a family home in 1900. Nutt also gave 40 acres for the original Granbury townsite.
Thrash-Landers-Hiner House
Granbury, TX
North Carolina native Patrick H. Thrash brought his family to the Granbury area in 1872 and became the town's first mayor, building a modest one-story frame home here around 1880. Over the following decades the house passed through the hands of a saloon owner, a district attorney, and the county sheriff, and was enlarged into the Queen Anne–style residence seen today. Its changing ownership reads like a roster of Granbury's early civic and business life.
Daniel House
Granbury, TX
William B. Daniel came to Granbury as a boy of ten in 1867 and grew into one of the city's leading grocers, building this ornate Victorian home in the early 1890s. Trimmed with intricate Eastlake detailing, it was a hub of social life and even hosted early funeral services for family and friends. The house stayed in the Daniel family after his death in 1940.