.jpg)
old county jail museum
Free Admission!
Monday, Tuesday ,Thursday:
11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday - Sunday:
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday- Closed
Visited during business hours and we're closed? No worries, call (915) 851-1682
We also operate the Old El Paso County Jail. Opened in 1850 the building served as the first jail in the El Paso area. Today it is opened as a museum where you can walk around the old courthouse and the original cells.
Learn more
Background
The building dates back to 1821. It is built from adobe and it used to be a residence for about 20 years before it was converted into a jail in 1850 after San Elizario was made the first county seat. It remained in use while San Elizario was the county seat - except for two short spans (1854 and 1866). The Commissioners Court approved the purchase of a prefabricated iron cell from Chicago, Illinois that had two areas that could hold up to 6 prisoners each. The cell is steel reinforced and was brought piece by piece. The building housed both the jail and courtroom. It was decommissioned after the town of San Elizario was no longer the county seat. Unfortunately, very little records exist of those who were jailed here or their crimes. We are doing as much research as possible to dig up some interesting facts for the next time you guys come along.
Billy The Kid
He was an Irish American immigrant, born in New York City in 1859. Very little is known about his early life, but historians have found baptism records that state his real name might have been Henry McCarty, however, in his later life he called himself William S. Bonney. His mother died when he was 14 and he left his brother and stepfather to live a life of crime that seemed to follow him around. He killed several people - with 9 deaths being directly attributed to him - and broke out of several jails in his lifetime, but this was the only time he broke INTO a prison. Come find out more about his time in San Elizario.
Jail after County Seat
Despite no longer being the county seat and the jail no longer being actively used, there have been records that state the jail was still in use sporadically. Our favorite story is that of local constable Antonio Trujillo, whose career lasted almost 50 years from the 1920s until the 1970s. He was known to sometimes use the jail to house prisoners temporarily until he could take them into El Paso. Since San Elizario was no longer the county seat, prisoners had to be taken to the El Paso jail.
