Sheriff Glen Sachtleben On Gonzales Tx History 1996 [0xSVebTXZ2E]

00:02 Hi, my name is Glenn Socklin. You're watching the Jeff Davis Show on Channel 16 We're coming to you from Gonzales Texas where we are celebrating Common Shaking 1996. You are inside the old county jail

00:49 The jail was used until the mid-70s as a jail, living quarters of sheriffs up to that time. Since then it's been turned into a museum. We have lots of folks visiting here. There is this way that women's jail has been used in early Gonzales County. Gonzales County was originally part of the Green Dewitt land grant from Mexico established about 1825 This particular building was built in 1895. It was designed to hold up to 100 prisoners and has been used for

01:28 Chamber of Commerce offices and museums, it's been used in a movie or two and several other things. We have quite an exciting weekend right now. What I'm standing on is a replica gallows. The gallows is located where we've known as the runaround at the old jail. It's on second floor This gallow was never used although there were several people actually hung in this particular area As you see there are also a lot of writing and so forth on the wall These are left by prisoners, they didn't have anything to do. So they left their names and dates and how long they were in jail perhaps where they were from this is a kind of unique graffiti but it's something that we've maintained and kept as it was actually when the jail discontinued As you attach to this particular section

02:27 These were the cells where people who were convicted of a capital offense, were actually kept. They stayed here until when it was legal to hang the hanging took place and like I said as far as i know there were three hangings in this jail The original gallows was torn down in the early 50s just to make space. When the jail was last used, this particular section was all that was used of it. There were no plumbing and water and facilities in the rest of it

03:07 When the thing was built, it was designed for 100 people so it must have been a very crowded place. This is also the original regional jail that served about three or four counties and was designed for that. Interestingly enough, the facilities and mechanisms at what's the door are very similar to what we use today. We've got modern attached electrical devices But all of this is mechanical, but the design and features are much the same. This building was plumbed for water and gas. It had gas lights and gas heat originally And as it deteriorated went down most of that left when it was last used we had one working commode One working water spigot up here and two downstairs. They've gotten pretty hard to use

04:01 Thanks for watching the Jeff Davis Show every Monday night on Channel 16. Hey, I'm Glenn Socklaven, Game Warden Sergeant here in Gonzales. We're in the old county jail. The jail museum is open from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. It's open 830 to 4 on Saturdays and then 1-5 on Sundays. This is my old office when I officed in this whole building. Y'all come see us we are 183 come down through Lockhart, Luling swing left off 183 and come see us. We enjoy having you, we've got a lot of historic homes, city museum up the street this particular building is located on 414 St. Lawrence Street it's the center square of town 107 that were really set out when Gonzales was laid out. Y'all come see us, y'all have a good time

04:59 This book is Gonzales, Drover's Brands Cattle and More written by Joe Toland Ackman and Glenn Soclevin. It tells of all of the brands that are located on the Gonzales brand monument it talks about 175 trail drivers that left Gonzalez County between 1865-1885 The places they went, the cattle they took who went with them and so forth Plus it also has a few pictures and some little articles on places that most folks can't get but are very interesting places in Gonzales County. This is available at the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce, and around town in Gonzalez at a couple other stores

05:38 The Ghost of Gonzales was written by Leon Natardez. It's a little compilation of haunted houses located in Gonzales, it is very interesting little book and tells a lot of stories, a lot of folklore that takes place around the community and within the bounds of Gonzalez County. It too is available at the Chamber of Commerce and around town. This is a photograph of the jail that was originally built in about 1895. The roof was blown off in a storm in the early 20's and replaced with the flat roof we have today It's one of several photographs that are in the Chamber of Commerce offices, taken from old archives and so forth around the county

06:28 This is a photograph of St. Paul Street looking south, the three-story building in the middle of the photograph is Masonic Lodge that's been redone and remodeled and cleaned up recently It is notorious not only for being the Masonic Lodge it was also the law office John Wesley Hardin about 1895 Several of the other buildings were interesting in their architectural style. The long porch, two-story porch at the very end of the block is no longer there and most of the buildings have their facades changed slightly today