Pottawattamie County Jail
|
The Historic Squirrel Cage Jail, former Pottawattamie County Jail
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
| Location | 226 Pearl St., Council Bluffs, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Built | 1885 |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000481 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
The Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States was built in 1885 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1] The building is a Squirrel Cage Jail, also known as a Rotary Jail.
History
Construction of the jail was simultaneous with that of the county’s new courthouse, which was finished in 1888.[2] It was designed by William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh of Indianapolis, Indiana.[2] It was built at a cost of $30,000.[3] The building was one of 18 such jails that were built in the United States and the only one that was three stories tall.[3] The front part of the jail had offices for the jailer, kitchen, trustee cells and quarters for women. The rest of the building is made up of pie-shaped cells that revolved inside of a cage. The building was designed for maximum security with minimal contact between the prisoners and the jailers.[2] The building was used as a jail until 1969.[3] In 1971 the Council Bluffs Park Board acquired the building and in 1977 the county historical society took ownership of the building and maintains it as a museum.
References
External links
- Squirrel Cage Jail - Historical Society of Pottawattamie County
| Topics | |
|---|---|
| Lists by state |
|
| Lists by insular areas | |
| Lists by associated state | |
| Other areas | |
| Related | |
- Government buildings completed in 1885
- Buildings and structures in Council Bluffs, Iowa
- Museums in Pottawattamie County, Iowa
- National Register of Historic Places in Pottawattamie County, Iowa
- Jails on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
- Prison museums in the United States
- History museums in Iowa
