Jailhouse Jaunt-Stillwater
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to tour the historic jail in Stillwater, Minnesota. It was known by some –as The Crossbar Motel!
The jail is part of the Washington County Historic Courthouse (read about it HERE) which was built shortly after the Civil War while the lumber business was booming all along the St. Croix River. The courthouse served as the judicial and administrative center of the county from 1870 until 1972. At that time, all of these services were moved to a new, modern location a few miles away.
The Historic Courthouse was restored and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The Courthouse is a popular site for wedding receptions and conferences and the jail is open for tours.
This jail register, written in long-hand, cites a description of each of the inmates, their occupations (most were laborers) and their offenses–larceny, highway robbery, lascivious cohabitation...
The last occupants of the jail left their mark…
(Doodles or graffiti?)
Touring the jail, one gets a sense of the isolation…
The boredom…
And the discomfort of the hapless inmates!
Thank you to FVKennedy for sharing her photos from our Jailhouse Jaunt. Check out Faye’s very creative use of color at her Tumblr Blog: ColorRouteCo
To read more about Stillwater: The Commander
and An Andrew Carnegie Library Jaunt
That last photo is impressive!
I like the checkerboard that they carved into the floor. I wonder what they used for pieces.
Thanks for sharing. Stillwater is rich with interesting history.
It really is, and the more I dig, the more I find! I can’t wait to tour all the fabulous houses built by the “Lumber Barons”.
Years ago when I did some bicycling, I took a tour in southern minn, we stayed at an old courthouse and jail that had been converted into a B&B. it was called The Jailhouse Inn. It was very cool. My room for the night was the judges office but several of the rooms were in cells,
I will see if that Inn is still open. Some of the buildings near the jail were turned into condos…