Go to Menard County Courthouse
OK – I don’t have any actual proof – but when looking for poosible historic jails in the area – I came across this information on TexasEscapes :
Menard County Jail
The 1871 Menard County jail on San Saba Avenue.
According to the book “Wanted: Historic County Jails of Texas” by Edward A. Blackburn, Jr., this was Menard County’s first jail. The first floor had a store in front with the jail at the back. The second floor, accessed only by an outside stairway on the west wall, was the courtroom. Behind the courtroom was the trapdoor to the dungeon-type cell below. The jail is now a private residence.– Terry Jeanson, September 2007″
Which would mean this is the 1880 jail described by www.http://texasfortstrail.com/plan-your-adventure/historic-sites-and-cities/sites/menard-county-courthouse – “Menard County, organized 1871, conducted its first county business in a house built of pickets before financing the construction of a more permanent, two-story limestone building designed by architect P. H. Mires. From 1880 to 1884, the limestone structure’s first floor housed a general store while the second functioned as the county’s courtroom. The building also included a dungeon, located in the northwest corner, which served as the county jail where prisoners were dropped and retrieved via a ladder.”
There is no historical plaque – but I do have some faith in this story.
