Terry County's First Jail
Brownfield, Terry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Terry County, organized in 1904, had no jail facility until this frame structure was erected in 1916 on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. The one-room building with two steel cells was replaced in 1926 by a jail located on the top floor of the new courthouse. This small structure then became property of A. T. Fowler, who moved it to his farm in the 1940s. The outside walls were plastered and the interior used for storage. Given to Terry County Heritage Museum in 1974 by A. T. and Terrell Fowler, the old jail was transferred to this site and restored. (1975)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Terry County had no jail at all until 1916, twelve years after it organized, when this small frame structure with two steel cells went up on the courthouse square. A new courthouse jail replaced it in 1926, and the little building passed to farmer A. T. Fowler, who moved it to his land and plastered its walls for storage. Donated to the Terry County Heritage Museum in 1974, it was relocated and restored on this site.
Why it matters
A one-room frame lockup captures the shoestring beginnings of law and order on the West Texas plains, where county institutions often arrived years after the settlers did.
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Related people
- · A. T. Fowler
Themes & tags
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