This metal barrel perfectly encapsulates the motto, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Texas county governments do a lot of things the old-fashioned way, up to and including important processes such as selecting juries. Anybody who was summoned for jury duty in Ellis County prior to the 1990’s had his or her name drawn from this barrel (or one very similar to it). Based on voter records, citizens’ names would be placed on small cards and spun around in this barrel like a game of Bingo. Whomever had his or her name drawn from the barrel was then mailed a jury summons. Note that there are still some name cards in the barrel now, each with the citizen’s address and date of birth. Some of the names show birthdays as recently as the 1970’s, whereas other birthdays date back to the 1890’s. Just a few decades ago, someone attending this tour could have served on a jury alongside someone born in the 19^th This demonstrates how young Texas is; stand four 50-year-olds next to each other, and between them, their collective life experience is older than Texas independence.

     On the floor beneath the stairs can be seen a vintage fire extinguisher. Rather than relying on a compressed charge of gas, like modern fire extinguishers, these vintage ones typically utilized a chemical reaction. Either by pulling a pin or turning the extinguisher upside-down and shaking it, the chemicals would mix and produce pressure, much like vinegar and baking soda. Then, the user had to quickly point the hose in the direction of the fire because there was no stopping the stream after that!