Motley County Jail
Matador, Motley County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This 2-story jail was erected in 1891, the year Motley County was organized, after County Judge H. H. Campbell and commissioners Dan Browning, A. B. Cooper, J. J. John and W. E. Power awarded a construction contract to local builders J. F. Aiken and J. T. Cornett. Cells were on the top floor of the structure and jailer's living quarters on the lower level. The first courthouse, also built in 1891, later burned, but this jail remains as a symbol of Motley County's frontier heritage. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1976
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This two-story stone jail went up in 1891, the very year Motley County was organized on the rolling plains of the Texas Panhandle, built by local contractors under the county's first judge and commissioners. Cells filled the upper floor while the jailer and his family lived below. The county's first courthouse, raised the same year, later burned, leaving the jail as one of the oldest surviving symbols of the county's frontier beginnings.
Why it matters
As the county's earliest public building still standing, the jail embodies the moment raw Panhandle range was organized into a functioning frontier county.
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Related people
- · H. H. Campbell
Related events
- · Organization of Motley County (1891)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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