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March 1940. "Hays County Jail, San Marcos, Texas. Living quarters for the Deputy Sheriff, who is the jailer, and his family, are downstairs. Jail cells are on second floor. Maid who came to the door said, 'It's the nicest place I ever saw'." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Admini. View full size.
This building was erected on Guadalupe Street in 1937 and served until the new correctional center was opened in 1989; it was demolished in the 1990s and a fried chicken restaurant now occupies the site. The fate of the sign isn't easily determinable.
In 1977, Texas Monthly magazine gave the sign a Bum Steer award for its insensitivity (obvious even then); the county argued the sign was historically significant because it had once been in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Nothing like a little truth in advertising South Texas.
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