Old Frio County Jail
a.k.a. Frio Pioneer Jail Museum
E. Medina and S. Pecan Sts., Pearsall, TXThe Old Frio County Jail, an outstanding example of a 19th-century Victorian public structure in Texas, is architecturally distinguished and important historically. The 1884 plastered brick jail, with its pedimented gables and delicately corbelled cornices, exhibits a stately symmetrical design and a high level of craftsmanship. In addition to the excellent quality of architectural detail, it is significant that the sturdy and functional design of this jail permitted its continuous use by the County for eighty-three years, with only minor repairs. The oldest building in Pearsall, the Old Frio County Jail is located on the original town square and is closely bound to the early pioneer history and railroad settlement of the town.
With the advent of the railroad in Frio County in 1881, the new town of Pearsall was laid out and named for the vice-president of the International and Great Northern Railroad, Thomas W. Pearsall. A four-block area east of the tracks, currently designated as Courthouse Square, was donated to the county of Frio by the Railroad Company. By popular vote, the county seat was moved from Frio Town to the railroad center of Pearsall in 1883 and immediate plans were made for the construction of a new escape-proof jail. Numerous prisoners had escaped from the county jail at Frio Town and it was abandoned after the removal of the county seat, while construction of the Pearsall jail was in progress. During this interim period, all prisoners were transferred to the Bexar County Jail at San Antonio and later moved to the La Salle County Jail at Cotulla.
On January 7, 1884, the Commissioners Court met with J.J. Ligon, representing the firm of P.J. Pauly & Bro. of St. Louis, Missouri, and approved the construction of a jail to be located as near as possible to the center of the original donated four block area. For the sum of $11,000 the new jail was built on the site where the temporary courthouse had been built the previous autumn.
One of the oldest buildings in Frio County, the County jail at Pearsall functioned continuously as a public jail from the period of its construction in 1884 through 1967, when a new jail was completed. During the Prohibition Era cells were used for storing seized liquor, and in 1969 the jail served as a distribution center for commodities under a Federal Aid Program. Since 1975 the interior of the Old Frio County Jail has been renovated by the County and the Frio Pioneer Jail Museum Association for use as a public museum.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.