Gleeson Jail, Historic jail structure in Gleeson, United States.

Gleeson Jail is a concrete structure with two cells connected by a central cage and reinforced with railroad ties and steel bars throughout its walls. The design reflects the construction methods used in early jail facilities across the frontier region.

Built in 1910, this jail replaced an earlier wooden structure where prisoners had been chained to an oak tree. The construction marked a shift toward more formal detention methods in the territory.

The jail's name and story are tied to Deputy Wesley Wooten Cates, constable from 1904, who joined the Texas Rangers at sixteen and became Amarillo's first city marshal in 1894. He persuaded the county to replace the oak "jail tree" with a wooden jail, then a concrete one. The building later appeared in the 1938 Western film The Mysterious Rider.

The jail stands in the ghost town of Gleeson, reached by unpaved roads, so check road conditions before setting out. The restored building is opened to visitors by local volunteers rather than on fixed daily hours, so confirm opening times with the Gleeson community before driving out. The site is small and unstaffed at times, and the surrounding ghost town has few services.

The jail's most famous prisoner was Francisco Chavez, arrested on September 5, 1912 after a gunfight with constables Cates and Bright in which over thirty shots were fired; townsfolk watched from a nearby hill and nobody was hurt. In 1938 the building appeared in the Western film The Mysterious Rider, starring Douglass Dumbrille.