Collin County Prison
This building was always called "The Prison." It wasn't called a jail. The prison keeper's family lived in the building with the inmates. His wife fixed meals for the inmates and washed their clothes.
Members of Bonnie and Clyde's gang were incarcerated in this prison and planned a prison break. They were moved to the state prison before they could escape. The county sold the building in the 1990s. It was a restaurant for a while. In 2012 it is an office building. |
COLLIN COUNTY PRISON
DESIGNED BY F. E. RUFFINI, ARCHITECT OF NUMEROUS PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN TEXAS IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, THIS HIGH VICTORIAN ITALIANATE STRUCTURE SERVED AS THE COLLIN COUNTY PRISON FOR 99 YEARS. COM- PLETED IN 1880, IT WAS MODIFIED IN 1938 WITH FUNDS FROM THE FEDERAL PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRA- TION. PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE BUILDING INCLUDE ITS BRACKETED CORNICE AND ARCHED WINDOWS. IT IS ONE OF THE FEW F. E. RUFFINI STRUC- TURES REMAINING IN THE STATE. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK Texas Historical marker, 1990 |
COLLIN COUNTY PRISON
McKinney Democrat, June 14, 1900
A Democrat scribe was courteously shown through the Collin county bastile, Tuesday, by its efficient keeper Mr. A. J. Atkinson and was astonished to note the great improvement it has recently undergone. Both the interior of the old white rock structure and grounds surrounding it have been thoroughly overhauled and renovated.
The new Diebold chilled, steele cells recently put in are truly a modern improvement over the old styled ones they substituted. These old ones have been remodeled and placed on top the new, making the cells double decked. Sanitation is perfect since the sewerage system and waterworks have been inaugurated. The prison is now lighted by electricity.
Another new feature is the dungeon cell and trap-door arrangement for carrying into execution the severest penalty of the law. As many as fifty prisoners can be safely confined in this modern little prison which at present, however, contains only eight rooms. All wooden out-buildings and debris have been moved away the tall iron fence removed to the south side and now instead of a jammed-up, uninviting entrance to the jail the grounds across the entire front of the lot is set out in pretty flowers and shaded by thrifty growing young box elder and water elm trees, which give a much more pleasing and creditable aspect to the whole premises. “Uncle Andy” and his estimable family occupy the front rooms and up stairs, as their private residence quarters, and being thus situated naturally spare no effort in keeping the prison tidy and attractive in appearance both inside and outside. For sanitation, absolute security, modern equipment and convenience Collin county’s bastile will compare most creditably with any other prison of its size in the state.
COLLIN COUNTY PRISON
A Master Plan and Historic Structure Report, June , 1989, The Williams Co., AIA, Austin, Texas
Chronology
...March 24, 1849 William and Margaret Davis donated 120 acres from their survey for the courthouse grounds and site of the town. The Commissioners used the proceeds from the sale of parts of this land to raise funds for a courthouse and jail.
Sept. 26, 1866 Commissioners court passed a special courthouse and jail tax to build a new courthouse and jail.
August 1877 Commissioners’ Court records show an order to pay for sand and stone to the Terra Cotta Company. Local residents maintain that these materials were bought to build the prison and were stored on the square until the construction began.
May 1879 Commissioners’ Court under the direction of Judge Thomas Goodner selected F. E. Ruffini of Austin to prepare plans and specifications and to supervise construction of the Collin County Prison. Ruffini was to be paid the standard 3 ½% of construction costs on the building.
May 1879 Lot 42 bock 5 was purchased for $500 from Charlotte B. and G. W. Patterson out of jail funds.
Sept. 27, 1879 A bid from John McDonald for $8,100 was submitted to build according to the direction of the court, except for iron.
1879 Leftwich and Jamison were awarded the contract to construct the prison.
1879 King Iron and Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio was paid $1,800 for iron gates and windows.
January 10, 1880 Iron grates installed for the windows of the jail.
1880 Designed in the Italianate style, the completed prison was laid out in a modified “T” shape. The stone was quarried in the former community of Squeeze Penny, Texas, three miles east of McKinney, and laid in a quarry-faced, ashlar pattern. Hipped roof with pediment above main entry; pressed metal cornice; round arch windows (first floor) and segmental arch windows (second floor); three-bay front with slightly projecting central bay at entrance.
May 1, 1894 Additional land around the jail (20' x 60') was purchased for $1500 from Mrs. W. E. Crouch.
July 1899 Court orders construction of four new cells in the prison. Contract was awarded to L. T. Noyes, agent for Diabold Safe and Lock Company, for the sum of $3,600....
August 21, 1908
Boss Apple was paid $6 to paper three rooms in the jail....
November 17, 1922 Ezell Stepp, hanged for the murder of Hardy Mills, was the last man to be legally executed in Collin County. He was hanged from gallows constructed beside the Collin County Prison....[This was one of the last county hangings in the state before the state started doing them in 1922.]
1979 State Prison Codes and an increasing jail population force the construction of a new facility, and the abandonment of the historic Collin County Prison.
McKinney Democrat, June 14, 1900
A Democrat scribe was courteously shown through the Collin county bastile, Tuesday, by its efficient keeper Mr. A. J. Atkinson and was astonished to note the great improvement it has recently undergone. Both the interior of the old white rock structure and grounds surrounding it have been thoroughly overhauled and renovated.
The new Diebold chilled, steele cells recently put in are truly a modern improvement over the old styled ones they substituted. These old ones have been remodeled and placed on top the new, making the cells double decked. Sanitation is perfect since the sewerage system and waterworks have been inaugurated. The prison is now lighted by electricity.
Another new feature is the dungeon cell and trap-door arrangement for carrying into execution the severest penalty of the law. As many as fifty prisoners can be safely confined in this modern little prison which at present, however, contains only eight rooms. All wooden out-buildings and debris have been moved away the tall iron fence removed to the south side and now instead of a jammed-up, uninviting entrance to the jail the grounds across the entire front of the lot is set out in pretty flowers and shaded by thrifty growing young box elder and water elm trees, which give a much more pleasing and creditable aspect to the whole premises. “Uncle Andy” and his estimable family occupy the front rooms and up stairs, as their private residence quarters, and being thus situated naturally spare no effort in keeping the prison tidy and attractive in appearance both inside and outside. For sanitation, absolute security, modern equipment and convenience Collin county’s bastile will compare most creditably with any other prison of its size in the state.
COLLIN COUNTY PRISON
A Master Plan and Historic Structure Report, June , 1989, The Williams Co., AIA, Austin, Texas
Chronology
...March 24, 1849 William and Margaret Davis donated 120 acres from their survey for the courthouse grounds and site of the town. The Commissioners used the proceeds from the sale of parts of this land to raise funds for a courthouse and jail.
Sept. 26, 1866 Commissioners court passed a special courthouse and jail tax to build a new courthouse and jail.
August 1877 Commissioners’ Court records show an order to pay for sand and stone to the Terra Cotta Company. Local residents maintain that these materials were bought to build the prison and were stored on the square until the construction began.
May 1879 Commissioners’ Court under the direction of Judge Thomas Goodner selected F. E. Ruffini of Austin to prepare plans and specifications and to supervise construction of the Collin County Prison. Ruffini was to be paid the standard 3 ½% of construction costs on the building.
May 1879 Lot 42 bock 5 was purchased for $500 from Charlotte B. and G. W. Patterson out of jail funds.
Sept. 27, 1879 A bid from John McDonald for $8,100 was submitted to build according to the direction of the court, except for iron.
1879 Leftwich and Jamison were awarded the contract to construct the prison.
1879 King Iron and Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio was paid $1,800 for iron gates and windows.
January 10, 1880 Iron grates installed for the windows of the jail.
1880 Designed in the Italianate style, the completed prison was laid out in a modified “T” shape. The stone was quarried in the former community of Squeeze Penny, Texas, three miles east of McKinney, and laid in a quarry-faced, ashlar pattern. Hipped roof with pediment above main entry; pressed metal cornice; round arch windows (first floor) and segmental arch windows (second floor); three-bay front with slightly projecting central bay at entrance.
May 1, 1894 Additional land around the jail (20' x 60') was purchased for $1500 from Mrs. W. E. Crouch.
July 1899 Court orders construction of four new cells in the prison. Contract was awarded to L. T. Noyes, agent for Diabold Safe and Lock Company, for the sum of $3,600....
August 21, 1908
Boss Apple was paid $6 to paper three rooms in the jail....
November 17, 1922 Ezell Stepp, hanged for the murder of Hardy Mills, was the last man to be legally executed in Collin County. He was hanged from gallows constructed beside the Collin County Prison....[This was one of the last county hangings in the state before the state started doing them in 1922.]
1979 State Prison Codes and an increasing jail population force the construction of a new facility, and the abandonment of the historic Collin County Prison.