c.1930 two cell small-town jail.

Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 12/03/08

SUMMARY

The Watson Jail, located on Main Street southwest of the Main Street and AR 1 intersection, is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion A for its associations with law enforcement activities in Watson in the early 1900s. A two-cell jail with brick walls and a cast concrete foundation, the Watson Jail is an example of the type of jail typically found in small towns in the early twentieth-century. Although the loss of the roof precludes the jail’s listing on the National Register, the building itself still reflects an important aspect of Watson’s history.

ELABORATION

Watson is located in Desha County, which was founded on December 12, 1838. Records of Desha’s history are imperfect; they were sent to Texas for safekeeping during the Civil War, but upon their return it was discovered that parts had been mutilated or destroyed.[1] Therefore, this narrative description is based on what scarce information is available.

Desha County’s natural resources have provided the basis of its economic history. Before Desha County was settled and cleared, the land was teeming with wild game such as bears, bobcats, deer, and turkey, which provided food for early settlers.[2] Ever since the settlement of Desha County, it has been an agricultural county due to its location in Arkansas’s fertile Delta region. Throughout the 1800s, corn and cotton were its principal crops.[3] However, by the late 1950s, rice, soybean, and winter wheat were increasingly gaining economic significance.[4] The principal crop yield is currently balanced between all five of these harvests.[5] The sale of lumber also greatly enhanced the economy of Desha County in the nineteenth century, as the county was heavily forested. It was still partially timbered as of 1890, according to Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas.[6] However, the land was almost entirely cleared after World War II.[7]

The Mississippi River, which serves as the eastern border of Desha County, has had a particularly large impact on the history of the entire county. It provided Desha County with the advantages of river traffic during the nineteenth century, as steamboats often took the time to stop at the landings there. This was still the case as of the publication of Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas in 1890.[8] However, the overflow of this same river was a serious obstruction to the material progress of the entire county throughout the 1800s, as floods continuously destroyed and retarded crops, damaged valuable property, and necessitated the relocation of rail lines, which severely impacted the ability of certain towns, such as Watson, to develop economically.[9] The first levee did not go under construction until 1901, near Watson.[10]T he flooded land of Desha County also led the county to have a reputation for lawlessness, as outlaws would hide in the virgin swampland and wilderness, only to come forth to murder and pillage. However, Desha County’s experience with outlawry was not exceptional, and was comparable to that of any county in any border state. This “lawless element” was no longer present as of 1890.[11]

The citizens of Desha County were known to be a very “Southern people” who sympathized strongly with the cause of the Confederacy. The county raised, armed, and equipped three full companies for the Confederate service.[12] However, the Civil War greatly retarded the progress of education and religion in Desha County.[13]

The town of Watson was founded in the early 1870s when Mr. L.W. Watson donated five acres of his land to Desha County. He simultaneously offered to donate 10,000 feet of lumber for the erection of buildings in the county. However, in lieu of the 10,000 feet of lumber, Mr. Watson erected a building in Watson that cost $376 and demanded 4,000 feet of lumber. This building soon became the county courthouse of Desha County.[14]

By 1871, it was decided that the town of Napoleon was no longer fit to house the Desha Seat of Justice due to its declining prominence. Watson was chosen as an alternative because of its location on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the promise that this new town showed. The county seat of Desha County was legally located in Watson on October 6, 1874.[15] This is the same year that Watson’s post office was built, which was still in use as of the 1988 publication of From Memdag to Norsk: A Historical Directory of Arkansas Post Offices 1832-1971. [16] However, the Missouri Pacific Railroad line was moved several miles to the west of Watson in 1878 in order to escape the frequent overflow of the Mississippi River. Thus, an election held in 1879 determined that the county seat was to be moved to Arkansas City, and this was accomplished in late December 1880. The jail and sheriff’s office were also built in Arkansas City in 1881. However, as of 1890, Watson continued to hold two circuit courts and four probate courts annually “as a convenience to the people of a portion of the county.”[17] If Watson had retained its status as the county seat of Desha County, it is quite possible that the demand for and construction of its first jail would have occurred much earlier than c. 1930.

Watson, located within Red Fork Township as of 1890, was known as a “good local trading point,” particularly due to river traffic.[18] The few references to noteworthy people from Watson in Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas cite men involved in the town’s mercantile business, such as Charles H. Gifford and Alfred Stroud.[19] John G. Warfield is another former resident of Watson mentioned who was admitted to the bar there in 1879, but continued to till the soil in his spare time.[20]

It is unknown how long the Watson Jail was used, but small-town jails such as this were often used until the mid to late twentieth century. The Watson Jail is a testament to the nature of its community, as it reflects the small-town atmosphere that Watson has possessed ever since settlement. In some ways, the neglect that the jail has experienced is indicative of the economic hardships that Watson has undergone during its existence, accurately demonstrating the lack of money that is available for luxuries such as restoration projects.

[2] File on Dumas.From the files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

[3] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 997.

[4] “Dumas 1904-2004.”Dumas Centennial History Committee, 2004, p.39.

[5] File on Dumas.From the files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

[6] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 997.

[7] File on Dumas.From the files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

[8] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1002.

[9] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 997.

[10] File on Dumas.From the files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

[11] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1003.

[12] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1002.

[13] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1004.

[14] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1001.

[15] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1001.

[16] Baker, Russell Pierce.From Memdag to Norsk: A Historical Directory of Arkansas Post Offices 1832-1971. Hot

Springs, AR: Arkansas Genealogical Society, 1988, p. 231.

[17] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1001.

[18] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1003.

[19] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1020, 1049.

[20] Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890, p. 1051.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Watson Jail, located on Main Street southwest of the Main Street and AR 1 intersection, is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion A for its associations with law enforcement activities in Watson in the early 1900s. A two-cell jail with brick walls and a cast concrete foundation, the Watson Jail is an example of the type of jail typically found in small towns in the early twentieth-century. Although the loss of the roof precludes the jail’s listing on the National Register, the building itself still reflects an important aspect of Watson’s history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, Russell Pierce. From Memdag to Norsk: A Historical Directory of Arkansas Post Offices 1832-1971. Hot Springs, AR: Arkansas Genealogical Society, 1988.

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890.

“Dumas 1904-2004.” Dumas Centennial History Committee, 2004.

File on Dumas. From the files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, 2008.