{"nrhp_refnum":"83003129","name":"Brown County Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401 W. Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brownwood","county":"Brown County","state":"TX","lat":31.723815088000038,"lon":-98.98069497099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, castle-like stone county jail at 401 West Broadway in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, built in 1902-1903 by Martin, Moodie & Co. and Youngblood Bros.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the jail exemplifies late 19th- and early 20th-century American jail design, combining a castellated Romanesque style with load-bearing stone construction and evolving jail hardware. It was the first Texas jail built by the Youngblood Brothers, later the Southern Steel Company. It is also described as one of the most significant turn-of-the-century jails in Texas.","narrative":"Built in 1902-1903 across from the Brown County Courthouse in Brownwood, this three-story jail looks like a small castle. Its walls are rock-faced local brown sandstone, 18 inches thick, with crenelated parapets, corner turrets, a tower with an observation room, and Romanesque arched entrances. The ground floor held the sheriff's office and jailer's quarters, while the upper floors held cells of varied sizes, a solitary confinement cell and a trap door for hangings. Martin, Moodie & Co. of Comanche, Texas, built it in partnership with Youngblood Bros. of Troy, Alabama, for a low bid of $24,925.60. It was the first Texas jail by the Youngblood firm, later known as the Southern Steel Company. The nomination points to its robust, sculptural design as more sophisticated than most Texas jails of the period. Few changes were made over eighty years, though it could not be adapted to state standards, so a new jail replaced it in 1981 and the old building was set for museum use.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Martin, Moodie & Co.; Youngblood Bros.","architectural_style":"Castellated Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant at the time of the form; the county built a new jail in 1981 and planned to lease the old jail to the Brown County Historical Society for a local history museum.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.994848-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/9714/40971403/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83003129.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003129/170e6bc6ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003129/170e6bc6ba-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brown_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:Brown_county_jail_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971403","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107319400"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/brown-county/brown-county-jail-83003129/"}