Strange with almost all of the original town of Foss being gone, a rarity is left standing there quietly in the Oklahoma sunshine, an exhibit from the territory days of the west. As boomtowns and settlements cropped up in the old west, law enforcement would be hard pressed to catch up in many respects but most especially with regard to the building of jails. Nevertheless, in territories brimming with outlaws a jailhouse was among the first needs of infant towns. The solution came in the form of strap iron and iron bar cage cells, simple cells that could be set up anywhere to provide a temporary jail until an actual building could be built to replace it. Because of my interest in old west history, I’d read about these cells before but had never seen one in person and wasn’t aware one still stands here in Oklahoma. Just north of Route 66 in Foss, this example from the Pauly Jail Building Company out of St. Louis (they still exist and make jail equipment, by the way) stands unimposing to the side of the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28 Sep This entry was published on September 28, 2014 at 11:23. It’s filed under Destinations, Oklahoma, Route 66 and tagged Destinations, Foss, Gunfighters, Jail, Mother Road, Oklahoma, Old West, Outlaws, Photography, Route 66, Territory. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.