The Old Hays County Jail has recently seen some activity for the first time in a while. Curious San Marcans need not worry as the jail is expected to see interior restorations of the historical building in the future.
First built in 1884 by Edward Northcraft, the jail was vacated by the county in1937 from then on the jail saw multiple owners over time. The jail has also been registered in the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
“I think it was used by the Southside Community group before they built the Southside Community Center. It was temporarily used by that group for a while and then it went into the ownership of my great grandfather, Oscar Payne,” said Ryan Patrick Perkins, chairman of the 1884 Hays County Jail Restoration Committee. “He was a contractor and used it for a shop as his yard. So it passed down to his wife, and then my grandmother sold it in 1997 to preservation associates, who donated it to Hays County with a preservation meant for its restoration.”
