In 1911 the commissioners court of Scurry County presented plans for a new jail, since the two previous jail houses (built in 1884 and 1886) had proven insufficient for the county's needs. Land at this site was purchased with bond money, and the brick building was completed, using local labor, in 1912. The first floor housed the jailer and his family, while the prisoners cells and a hospital occupied the second and third stories. A trapdoor was included for use as a hanging gallows. This jail served the citizens of Scurry County for over sixty years. (1982)