Bowie County Jail

Due to their association with community development in northeast Texas and their architectural character, the Bowie County Courthouse and Jail are significant locally. Serving as the center of county governmental activities for over three-quarters of a century, the buildings were designed and built at the same time—unique within the state. In addition, the massing of the courthouse is unusual. The first town of Boston, Texas—now known as Old Boston—evidently was established in 1830's. Following the organization of the county in 1841 it was found that this settlement was not sufficiently close to the center of the area and a new town, also named Boston, was established north of the first community. Although the new town did not thrive, it has remained the county seat; today it has a population of only about 200 but serves a county which includes the city of Texarkana with a population of about 34,000 (on the Texas side of the line). In 1869 the Texas and Pacific Railroad passed north of Boston, attracting commercial interests which resulted in the establishment of New Boston— all three Boston communities are within a distance of several miles. With the shift in activity, the present setting of the Bowie county courthouse is serene with dwellings mostly surrounding it. Late in 1890 the commissioners' court ordered that a contract be let for the construction of a courthouse "in the geographical center of the county." It was specified that a "Box House" 34 by 60 feet with "16 feet boxing" be erected to house the court. Beside this, separated by a ten-foot-wide corridor was to be an "addition" 40 by 34 feet with six county offices." At the same time, a contract was to be let to build a "jailhouse of two rooms 10 x 10 feet of square oak pieces. . . floored and ceiled overhead with 2x4 oak pieces and jailers office between the two cells 10 x 14 feet." Although there was a petition requesting that no building be erected, less than a year later as a result of their low bid, Sonnefield and Emmins were selected as the contractors for a new courthouse and jail of permanent construction. As was often the case, the contractors were also the designers of the buildings. The bid on the temple of justice was $33,900 and the calaboose $10,000. Before the work was completed a third partner, Albright evidently joined the contractors. As the seat of county government shifted to the nearby town of New Boston, the county constructed a new, modem-style courthouse there in 1985. After sitting idle for several years, the courthouse at "Old Boston" fell victim to arson in 1987 (Kelsey, 49). The devastating fire completely gutted the building which was subsequently demolished. Despite this loss, the Jail building remains as one of the last tangible links to Old Boston's role as the seat of government in Bowie County. The 19th century building largely retains its characteristic architectural details and is easily recognizable to the period of significance. Therefore, the Bowie County Jail supports listing under Criterion A in the area of Politics/Government and Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance.