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Historical
Marker:
Motley County
Jail
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 |
Motley County
Jail
I have been
to the grave sites and also been through the old jail where they
lived. The living quarters were downstairs and the jail was upstairs.
My grandfather had told me about living in the jail when he was
a little boy and watching his dad hang men from a trap door in the
ceiling. Sure enough, when I visited the jail there was the trap
door."
- Paul Cloyd, August 15, 2004
All the stories
I heard as a boy growing up in Matador had it that no one was actually
ever hanged in the Jail. It is true that the trap door is there.
- Earle Price, May 22, 2005
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact
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