Advance reservations were not required and guests may have been less than eager, but the historic Red Top Jail in Llano, TX is probably the town’s oldest bed and breakfast accommodation. Local history buff Mike Reagor often begins his guided tours of the jail with the B&B analogy. Reagor, whose family originally settled in the county during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, has lived in Llano since 1982. Very involved in many of Llano’s community and church activities, Reagor also served as a Llano city alderman for two years. He is one of several local volunteers who have studied the history of the jail, help with on-going restoration efforts and provide guided tours.

Red Top Jail is located on Haynie Street, two blocks east of the courthouse square near the southeast bank of the Llano River.

The exterior of the building is Llano-quarried granite, with interior rock faced with plaster, making the walls two feet thick. Completed in December 1895, the jail has five levels and was constructed in only eight months. Huge cracks which have occurred in the walls may be the result of a poor foundation due to the quick building process. The Pauly Jail Building and Mfg. Co. of St. Louis, MO had already been in business for 39 years when they were hired to build the Llano jail, but even before that, P. J. Pauly, Sr. and his family were steamboat blacksmiths on the Mississippi River. As pioneers moved west, there was a need for detention facilities in remote areas, so the Paulys designed and built steel cages that could be mounted on flatbed wagons, creating portable jails. Pauly jails, eventually built all over the U.S., became the standard in prison systems, drawing special recognition for a unique Patent Rotary Jail. Although Red Top Jail in Llano was not built using that exact system, it is built in a well-known Pauly circular interior design, each floor planned around a narrow stairway in the center.

"The name Red Top Jail described the roof of the str ...

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