Freestone County Jail, Fairfield Texas. (original) (raw)

Photographer's Note:
"The 1857 Freestone County jail, remodeled in 1880, now serves as the Freestone County Historical Museum." - Terry Jeanson, June 1, 2007

Historical Marker: Main & Hall St., Fairfield

Old Freestone Jail

Built 1857 to meet fortress-like specifications: interior walls are 18 inches thick, outer walls, 30 inches. Constructed of brick and oak timbers. Prison, upstairs, had floor of thick oak planks, with subfloor of iron. Jailer lived on ground floor. Folklore says the notorious gunman John Wesley Hardin once spent a night here. This was used as a jail until 1913. It became a museum in 1967.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967