Historical Marker

First Taylor County Jail - Courthouse

Buffalo Gap · Taylor County · Dedicated 1962 · THC Atlas #5441001597

The roadside stories worth pulling over for.

Marker Inscription

-- (RTHL medallion)

About this site

First Taylor County Jail - Courthouse is a historical marker in Buffalo Gap, Taylor County, dedicated in 1962. It is one of 49 historical markers documented in Taylor County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 129 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.2888, -99.8293 near Buffalo Gap. The nearest cataloged historic site is The Ernie Wilson Museum (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Buffalo Gap Historic Village, Old Taylor County Courthouse and Jail, and Taylor County Courthouse Museum (1880).

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5441001597. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.

First Taylor County Jail - Courthouse — Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

History

This two-story native-limestone building at Buffalo Gap served as Taylor County's first courthouse and jail, begun in 1879 and opened in 1880 at a cost of about $8,000. It housed county offices and courtrooms as well as cells, its stone blocks reportedly mortared with cannonballs to foil escapes, until the county seat moved to Abilene in 1883. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is now the centerpiece of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village.

Sources: buffalogaphistoricvillage.org tshaonline.org

📍 32.2888, -99.8293 · Buffalo Gap, Taylor County

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