Retired Panola County Jail

We found this little gem off the square – a little difficult to find.  It’s romanesque – and was built in 1885.  Served for many years as the county jail and then the city jail.

2 Responses to Retired Panola County Jail

  1. Joseph Garred says:

    (revised)
    Tom,
    I squandered my mis-spent youth (in the middle 1960’s) in the Northwest Louisiana/East Texas area and flirted a little too much with juvenile delinquency. When the bars would close in Shreveport, we would get some beers and drive over to Carthage to try to keep the party going and visit friends. Carthage was in Panola County and was a dry county-no alcohol allowed. So when we would get stopped driving 100 MPH through the yellow flashing light at Deberry TX, we would get arrested and have to go to jail for the night. One night, I was a little short of cash and I asked the officer if I could stop at the all-night gas station on the way in to town (a friend worked there) to cash a check so I would have my $25.00 to get out jail in the morning. No problem he says…

    The problem was, my friend was working out on the North side of town that night. So, I tell the officer, I’ll drive out to the North side and cash my check and meet you at the jail house. No problem he says… So I drove out to found my friend, cashed my check and pulled up at the Panola County jail house (pictured above) to get locked up in the upstairs jail for the night (you can see the bars on the windows). We were drunk enough already so, me and my buddies would spend the rest of the night BS’ing with the other inmates (keep the party going) until the judge showed up in the morning. After the morning jail-house breakfast, we had money to get out and were on our way…

    It was a happy ending for all…

  2. Tom says:

    Great story – helps bring life to these photos.

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