Old Atascosa County Jail

After the Atascosa County seat moved from Pleasanton to Jourdanton in 1910, county officials rented a small Jourdanton house for a jail in 1911. A proposal to build a new jail using cells from the old Pleasanton structure was rejected, and in 1915 a reinforced-concrete, brick-clad building with new steel cells was authorized. That year the site was purchased from W.M. Abernethy, who had served as County Judge from 1901 to 1912. Henry T. Phelps of San Antonio, architect of the 1912 courthouse, was chosen to supervise construction, and the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio received the $20,000 contract. The building featured an eclectic blend of architectural elements, including crenelated towers and hood molds around the windows. Its first floor contained offices and living quarters for sheriffs and their families from 1916 to 1959. A gallows room was built on the second floor, though its trap door was never used for an execution, and standard and specialized cells occupied the second and third floors. Additions built in 1974 carefully matched the original brickwork and detailing, and a new jail replaced the building in 1982.

Jourdanton, Texas · United States