Heritage, Fall 2006 Page: 9
39 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A World-Class Art Museum
By Kate Sepanski( yiW f/ aifiif th^W Ua4 ekmw.
And far touch o . Fed up with bar fights, prostitution,
and occasional visits from notorious criminals, a small
group of law-abiding citizens left Fort Griffin, Texas, to establish
a new town some 20 miles away. In 1877, Albany,
Texas, was born.
By building the first permanent jail in Shackelford County,
the founders of Albany made it known that they intended
to keep an orderly and law-abiding town. The townspeople
were eager to have a jailhouse, although they were outraged
at having to pay $9,000 in taxes for its construction.
The builders of the jail, Scottish stonemasons, carved
their initials into the big limestone blocks of the jail to ensure
they would receive payment for their work once the
town became fully established. In fact, because of the many
letters etched into the structure's walls, the building became
known as "the alphabet jail" for decades.
The building was designed by John Thomas of Thomas
and Woerner, Builders, Fort Worth. It had no running water,
and the only sources of heat were two fireplaces burning
downstairs. With no glass in the windows, wooden shutters
served as the only protection from the elements.
The jail, two stories tall, contained two rooms on each
level. While the jailor and his family lived downstairs, prisoners
were locked upstairs in either the common cell or the
solitary-confinement cell. Neither was very large.
Because fewer and less serious crimes were committed in
Albany than in Fort Griffin, the jail was mainly used to detain
horse thieves and those who became "nuisances" in the
local saloons. The prison served its time for more than half a
century until it was abandoned in 1929 for a newer jail with
more amenities.
For almost ten years the old jail sat quietly in its own
solitary confinement, neglected by the townspeople. As the
wheels of progress turned in Albany, city officials declared
that the old jail would be demolished.
Hating to see such a magnificent building destroyed,
Robert E. Nail bought the jail in 1940 for $25. When city
officials asked when the building would be moved, Nail
politely informed them that he did not intend to relocate
the jail. Nail was then told that he must buy the land under
the building as well. Consequently, a few months later he
purchased the land on which the jail was located for $375.Nail, a Princeton graduate and local author and playwright,
used the jail as a studio and storage space. Because
he joined the army and left the area, other plans he had for
the jail were never implemented.
In 1968, Reilly Nail inherited the jail from his "Uncle
Bobby." Like his uncle, Reilly Nail had graduated from
Princeton. Though he had become a television producer, the
younger Nail had long fostered a deep appreciation for art.
Reilly Nail bought his first piece of art, a drawing by Kelly
Fearing, at age 17 from a Fort Worth Art Association exhibition.
Since that time, Nail had developed an extensive personal
collection of contemporary European and American
art. The collection was so large, in fact, that he had to keep
most of it in storage.
Nail was not alone in his love for art. In fact, it was a passion
shared by his family. Nail's mother and aunt collected
Asian art, and his cousin, Bill Bomar, sought modern art.
Not knowing what else to do with the jail, Nail and Bomar
decided to use it as a holding place for their overflowing art
collections. Once their mothers added their collections to
those of their sons, the men decided they had enough art to
set up a decent museum.
Then the idea took flight.
The men first cleaned up the jail and installed the necessities
of modern life: air conditioning, water, heat, and light.
Next, they created an entrance gallery. Though this addition
looked as if it were part of the original building, it was
attached in such a way that it could be torn down and the
original building would still stand. For public accommodation,
two public restrooms were built outside and away from
the main building.
In 1980 the Old Jail Art Center (OJAC) officially opened
with three show rooms.
The original exhibit, featuring the collections of Nail and
his relatives, included dozens of ancient Chinese terracotta
tomb figures from the Han to T'ang Dynasty
and paintings from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Paul
Klee, Henry Moore, and John Marin. Some works were
painted by contemporary British artists, a group rarely
represented in American museums.
Though originally intended to be a "modest museum,"
open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the museumHERITAGE
Fall 2006
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Fall 2006, periodical, Autumn 2006; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45367/m1/9/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.