Commissioner Precinct 3

El Paso County Commissioner Pct. 3
Miguel A. Teran

San Elizario Jail Restoration
San Elizario Jail: A grant of $30,000 was received on November 27, 2002, from the Texas Historical Commission Preservation Trust Fund for restoration of the Old County Jail in San Elizario. Commissioner's Court committed matching funds of $75,000 for the restoration of the jail on February 3, 2003.
The firm of Wright and Dalbin Architects, Inc., completed the Preservation Plan for the jail on April 21, 2003. The Preservation Plan was funded with a grant of $4,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and $4,000 from El Paso County.
The Preservation Plan was forwarded to the Texas Historic Commission (THC) for review on April 23, 2003. Upon approval by THC the county will solicit bids for the actual restoration.
History of the Old County Jail in San Elizario
from "A Walking Tour of Historic San Elizario" and the
San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society
P.O. Box 1090
San Elizario, Texas 79849
On January 3, 1850, El Paso County was created by the Texas Legislature from Bexar County. San Elizario was the largest, most prosperous town in the area and became the county seat. The adobe building (San Elizario Jail) was chosen to house the first jail. Commissioners Court approved the purchase of pre-fabricated wrought iron cage cells able to hold six prisoners. They were manufactured in Chicago and survive to this day.
The rear of the building may have formed part of the original defensive wall of the presidio. The jail continued to be used until the 1940's, even after the county seat moved to El Paso.
According to oral tradition and Pat Garrett's Authentic Life of Billy The Kid, this is the only jail Billy the Kid broke into. In the fall of 1876, the Kid left from Mesilla, New mexico to break his friend out of jail. Although there is no official documentation to support the claim, details of the event are compelling and the event itself is generally acknowledged as approacjing the truth.
A manuscript written in 1880 by Charles Rudolph (a member of Pat Garrett's posse that captured the Kid in December 1880) states that "Billy the Kid in [Mesilla] learned that his friend Melquiades Segura had been arrested in San Elizario. He then set out on horseback and arrived in San Elizario about three o'clock in the morning. He knocked on the door of the jail, waking up one of the guards, who asked, 'Who is it?' 'Texas Rangers,' Billy answered in Spanish. 'We have two American prisoners.' The guard opened the door, peered out, and found himself face to face with Billy's .44 revolver. He then relieved the other guard of his gun, found the key to the cell, released Segura, locked the two jailers in the cell and threw away the keys. They then crossed the (Río Grande) into Mexico."