{"nrhp_refnum":"04001395","name":"Coke County Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6th at Chadbourne","address_restricted":false,"city":"Robert Lee","county":"Coke County","state":"TX","lat":31.894674897000073,"lon":-100.48856462599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-12-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Invention","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, T-shaped county jail at 6th and Chadbourne Streets in Robert Lee, Coke County, Texas, built in 1907 by Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio.","why_significant":"The jail was built entirely of poured-in-place concrete, unlike most contemporary Texas jails, which used brick or stone with concrete. It also contains several patented inventions by David Youngblood, founder of the builder, including interlocking bar grating, hammock supports and a lever locking mechanism. It is also tied to the history of Coke County government.","narrative":"Built in 1907 at the edge of Robert Lee, Texas, the Coke County Jail is a two-story, T-shaped building that housed the sheriff's family on the ground floor and prisoners in steel cells upstairs. The county paid about $7,500 for it, and the commissioners called it a structure of beauty and workmanship. Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio poured the walls entirely in concrete, finished on the outside to resemble stone blocks, whereas most jails of the period used brick or quarried stone. Inside are seven cells fitted with inventions patented in 1902 by company founder David Youngblood: interlocking bar window grating, hammock hooks and a lever locking mechanism. The jail stayed in continuous use until 1972-73, then served as a library and museum. Its exterior looks much as it did originally. It is recognized for its architecture, its role in jail technology, and its place in Coke County government history.","period_of_significance":"1907-1954","architect_builder":"Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio, Texas","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a jail until 1972-73, then as a library and museum; museum items were placed in storage in 2002-03 for preservation work. Current functions are listed as museum and work in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.124769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/9715/40971513/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/04001395.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001395/9142b87390-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001395/9142b87390-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coke_county_jail_2009.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coke_county_jail_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971513","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107330927"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/coke-county/coke-county-jail-04001395/"}