THC OKs HISTORICAL MARKER FOR FIRST COUNTY JAIL

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

(Part 2, of 4)
The Texas Historical Commission has approved the application for a historical marker for the original Cameron County Jail dating back to 1882.

The building served as a county jail until 1913 and was then sold to Jose and Joaquin Fernandez who converted it into a store with living quarters that included an enclosed back patio enclosed in brick perimeter walls.

Inside the enclosed back patio was – as was the custom of the day – a water well. (see graphic at top).

Some grape vine stock dating back to when the first Catholic missionaries arrived in Brownsville still grow in the back patio. The windows and top of the doors still bear the iron bars that served to keep the inmates in the structure.

Across the back alley is the original county courthouse (now the Mason's Lodge) where prisoners were tried. That building was sold to the Rio Grande Lodge No. 81. Also across the alley is a huge tree that was said to serve as a hanging tree used to carry out the death sentences issued by the courts.

The jail was built in the traditional South Texas Old Brick Style.

The application was submitted by Dennis and Michele Sanchez, both Brownsville attorneys and brother and sister. The site is already registered as a Preserve America national heritage site and a site on the historical trail.

However, according to Eugene Fernandez, a commissioner for the Texas Historical Commission and chairman of the Texas State Historical Marker Program, it had not been submitted to the state commission for a marker.

In an extensive narrative, the Sanchezes trace the origins of the Fernandez brothers to various provinces in Spain and recount how they got here and started their business. In 1913 the brothers set up shop there.

The process of getting the marker will probably be completed by early January, Fernandez said.