12-05-2025
Unearth Archer County dig caps off with a banquet and artifact presentation
ARCHER CITY (KFDX/KJTL)—The hard work of the archaeologists in Archer City is finally paying off, as they presented their findings from the Unearth Archer County dig earlier in the week.
Since Wednesday, archaeologists have dug up the land around the old Archer County Jail to raise awareness and funds for the jail's revitalization effort, which is led by the Archer County Museum and Arts Center.
Among the dig's finds were various animal bones from food and some bullet casings. But one of the archaeologists, Archer City native Kailey Berube, is most excited about a batch of pennies found, which confirms some old stories about the jail.
'It's super cool that we're finding evidence of people throwing the coins down, and you know, we found the wheat pennies from the early 40s,' Berube said. 'Yeah, it's super cool to connect the stories to the archeological evidence.'
The jail was in use from around 1910 to 1974, and Berube mentioned that it's one of the last buildings of its age and style still in decent condition in the state of Texas. ACMAC hopes that once the jail is fully restored, it can be added as a stop on one of the many Texas Heritage Trails across the state.
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