BlockFrom the record
One of 15 National Register listings published here for Gonzales County · listed in 1975 · category: Building.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Gonzales County Jail
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. Courthouse Sq. on St. Lawrence St., Gonzales, 78629
- When was it listed? May 1975
- Category. building
- Census division. Gonzales
- National Register reference number. 75001985 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
15 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Gonzales County Jail between 2005 and 2017, burning about 136 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | RAINDROP |
| 16 August 2011 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 25 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | TRACK FIRE |
| 13 August 2005 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | SOUTH TX - 1 |
| 6 July 2011 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.5 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | COUNTY ROAD 237 FIRE |
| 10 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 75 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | THOUSAND OAKS |
| 18 February 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 13-0091 |
| 9 January 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 13-0016 |
| 9 January 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 13-0015 |
Storms near this property
42 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gonzales, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 18 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 8 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 6 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1999 | Lightning | Gonzales | 6 hurt | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $500,000 | Damaging winds uprooted trees, snapped power lines and telephone lines, and caused widespread damage to roofs and windows. One mobile home was damaged. |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $90,000 | As the line of thunderstorms associated with the late season cold front moved southward into Gonzales County, they produced severe winds that knocked over trees and blew down power lines just north of Gonzales. The severe winds also damaged a trailer in the area. |
| November 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $50,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and destroyed two outbuildings. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $20,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds knocked over several trees just north of Gonzales |
| March 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $10,000 | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 65 mph that knocked down power lines in Gonzales. |
| July 1998 | Tornado (F1) | Gonzales | $10,000 | A small and short-lived tornado struck just east of Gonzales, destroying one mobile home while also damaging 5 homes and wrapping tin roofs around poles. The tornado was preceded by severe winds that also damaged sheds and the roofs of outbuildings, as well as by large hail. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $10,000 | Trees were blown down in the Gonzales area. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $10,000 | no account filed |
| January 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $5,000 | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 70 mph that knocked down a traffic light at the intersection of St. Joseph St. and St. Lawrence St. in Gonzales. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $5,000 | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 75 mph that snapped a tree trunk in Gonzales. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Gonzales | $5,000 | A thunderstorm produced hail up to two inches in diameter which damaged several cars. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | $2,000 | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph that damaged some trees in Gonzales. |
| January 2024 | Hail | Gonzales | - | A thunderstorm produced golf ball size hail on Hwy 90 west of Gonzales. |
| March 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph that knocked down some one inch diameter tree limbs and some roof shingles near Gonzales. |
| June 2016 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing FM 108, FM 1116, FM 443, FM 1681, and CR 475. |
| March 2015 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing FM1116 and FM532 around Gonzales. |
| November 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 58 mph that broke off some large tree limbs. |
| November 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 58 mph which snapped numerous trees, damaged several buildings, and blew down some power line poles in Gonzales. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 50 knots which knocked down trees on the golf course in Gonzales. |
| November 2007 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Thunderstorms moved slowly across northern Gonzales County during the evening of November 17 producing very heavy rainfall. Radar estimates showed in excess of 4 inches of rain from 6 PM until midnight and CoCoRAHS observer Gonzales 6.7NNW reported 6.45 inches in 24 hours ending at 7 AM on November 18. The heavy rain led to flash flooding which closed FM 794 from Gonzales to near Harwood due to water over the road. |
| July 2007 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | A cluster of thunderstorms over Fayette, Gonzales, Karnes, DeWitt, and Lavaca Counties produced general 1 to 2 inch rainfall with up to 4 inches east of Gonzales. FM2091 and FM532 were closed due to flash flooding. |
| July 2007 | Flood | Gonzales | - | The Guadalupe River at Gonzales crested at 40.3 ft on 07/22 at 1330cst, where flood stage is 31 ft. |
| March 2007 | Flood | Gonzales | - | The Guadalupe River at Gonzales crested at 40.53 ft at 1030 CST on March 13, where flood stage is 31 ft. This was the 5th highest crest on record. |
| July 2007 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Widespread 2 to 3 inch rain amounts fell in Wilson, Gonzales, DeWitt, Karnes and Lavaca Counties, with up to 4 inches west of Gonzales. US97 and FM466 were closed. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | Severe thunderstorm winds blew large limbs off trees and knocked down trees northeast of Gonzales. |
| May 2007 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Scattered showers and thunderstorms produced general 1 to 2 inch rain amounts over northeast Gonzales County, with up to 4 inches near Waelder. Many rural roads, including FM1115 and SH97, were closed due to flash flooding. |
| September 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Gonzales | - | A tornado touched down twice near SH97. It destroyed some chicken houses. The tornado was rated EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. |
| September 2006 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Late afternoon thunderstorms developed from northern Wilson County through northwestern Gonzales County into southwestern Fayette County, producing general 2 to 3 inches of rain over the area. Max totals in Gonzales County were 4 inches near Waelder. SH97 and FM794 were closed through the late evening due to flash flooding. |
| July 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Gonzales | - | Two short-lived funnels were sighted by the public near Gonzales. |
| July 2004 | Flash Flood | Gonzales | - | Rainfall averaged between 2 and 3 inches in showers and thunderstorms around Gonzales. Several low water crossings were reported to be under water just before midnight. |
| September 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gonzales | - | Roofs were torn off homes. Lightning caused severe damage to one home. |
| May 1993 | Hail | Gonzales | - | Dime-size hail was reported by the Sheriff's Office. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| November 2000 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| February 1998 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
| March 1998 | Hail | Gonzales | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Gonzales County Courthouse | under 500 feet | 1972 |
 | Gonzales Commercial Historic District | under 500 feet | 1996 |
 | William Buckner and Sue Houston House | 0.2 miles | 2003 |
 | Thomas Harrison and Mollie Spooner House | 0.3 miles | 2003 |
| Edwards High School | 0.9 miles | 2024 | |
 | Kennard House | 1.1 miles | 1971 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 75001985 in Record Group 79. |
| Gonzales County | All 15 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.