Old St. Johns County Jail

Last updated
Old St. Johns County Jail
St Aug old county jail01.jpg
Location St. Augustine, Florida
Coordinates 29°54′28″N81°19′8″W / 29.90778°N 81.31889°W / 29.90778; -81.31889
Architectural style Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No. 87001427 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 27, 1987

The Old Jail (also known as Authentic Old Jail) is a historic jail in St. Augustine, Florida. It is located at 167 San Marco Avenue. On August 27, 1987, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The St. Johns County Jail now serves as the Old Jail Museum.

Contents

The Old Jail

The building was designed and constructed by the P.J. Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1891. Its construction was financed by Henry Flagler, who struck a deal with the county for $10,000 because the former jail building stood on land that Flagler needed for the construction of his Ponce de León Hotel. [2] The Old Jail served as the St Johns County Jail until 1953. After the jail facilities were moved to a new, more modern building, the vacant Old Jail building was sold to entrepreneur Henry "Slim" McDaniel who began operating the remarkably well preserved building as a roadside tourist attraction. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Originally built to house up to 72 prisoners, the two-story northern wing of the jail consists of a general population and maximum security area, a women's section and a lower level kitchen. Maximum security housed the most dangerous prisoners held at the jail and includes a death row cell, for those condemned to die. A total of eight men were hung from the gallows on the jail compound during its history. Overall conditions at the jail for those serving varying sentences were quite poor by modern standards and prisoners were typically used as free farm laborers during the day. Baths were infrequent, toilet facilities consisted of one bucket per cell and diet was poor and was typically supplemented by any animals that the prisoners might catch while working in the fields. Segregation by race was steadfastly adhered to at the jail and disease, violence and death were commonplace. The two-story southern wing of the jail consists of an office for the sheriff and living quarters for his family.

Old Jail Museum

The Old Jail Museum consists of a restored jail with sheriff's living quarters. It also contains a display of weaponry and a pictorial history of the hangings carried out at the Old Jail, with emphasis on the time the Sheriff CJ Perry was in residence with his family. The Jail is only accessible by guided tour, with costumed guides "processing" in the new prisoners. The Jail also serves as the grand finale to Old Town Trolley's Ghost and Gravestones tour, allowing visitors to access the building by night as well.

Notable inmates

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Augustine, Florida</span> City in Florida, United States

St. Augustine is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County located 40 miles south of downtown Jacksonville. The city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in what is now the contiguous United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lightner Museum</span> United States historic place

The Lightner Museum is a museum of antiques, mostly American Gilded Age pieces, housed within the historic Hotel Alcazar building in downtown St. Augustine. This 1887 Spanish Renaissance Revival style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Monica Hotel</span> Historic hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, US

The Casa Monica Hotel is a historic hotel located in St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It was originally named Casa Monica, then Cordova Hotel, then Alcazar Annex, and now has its original name again. The Casa Monica Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the United States and is a member of the Historic Hotels of America in the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincolnville Historic District</span> Historic district in Florida, United States

Lincolnville Historic District is a neighborhood in St. Augustine, Florida established by freedmen following the American Civil War and located on the southwest peninsula of the "nation's oldest city." It was designated as an historic district in 1991 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally recorded with 548 contributing buildings, the district is bounded by Cedar, Riberia, Cerro and Washington streets and DeSoto Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Zorayda</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

Villa Zorayda is a house at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida. Built in 1883 by the eccentric Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith as his winter home, it was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. Smith named it "Villa Zorayda", after one of the princesses in Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra. The building and part of Franklin Smith's art and antique collection were sold to Abraham Mussallem, a rug and antiquities merchant originally from Syria, in 1913. On September 23, 1993, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Villa Zorayda Museum is still owned by the Mussallem family and contains the original art and antique collection assembled by Franklin Smith and Abraham Mussallem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami-Dade County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Miami-Dade County Courthouse, formerly known as the Dade County Courthouse, is a historic courthouse and skyscraper located at 73 West Flagler Street in Miami, Florida. Constructed over four years (1925–28), it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1989. The building is 361 feet tall with 28 floors. When it was built, it was the tallest building in both the city of Miami and state of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace United Methodist Church (St. Augustine, Florida)</span> Historic church in Florida, United States

Grace United Methodist Church is a historic church donated to the people of St. Augustine, Florida, by American industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler. It is located at 8 Carrera Street. Built within a one-year span, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979, for its architectural significance and as an example of community planning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubuque County Jail</span> United States historic place

The Dubuque County Jail is a historic building at 36 East 8th Street in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1858, the jail is an example of the uncommon Egyptian Revival style. It is architecturally a highly original work of John F. Rague, who also designed the 1837 Old Capitol of Illinois and the 1840 Territorial Capitol of Iowa. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture in 1987. It served as a jail for more than a century, became a museum in 1975, and was converted into county offices in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Augustine movement</span> Part of the wider Civil Rights Movement in St. Augustine, Florida

The St. Augustine movement was a part of the wider Civil Rights Movement, taking place in St. Augustine, Florida from 1963 to 1964. It was a major event in the city's long history and had a role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiscasset Jail and Museum</span> United States historic place

The Wiscasset Jail and Museum is a historic jail on at 133 Federal Street in Wiscasset, Maine. Built in 1811, it is one Maine's oldest surviving jail buildings, serving as the state's first penitentiary between 1820 and 1824. It is now a museum operated by the Lincoln County Historical Society as the 1811 Lincoln County Museum and Old Jail. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

The old Oconee County Jail was a former jail located on Short Street in Walhalla, South Carolina, in Oconee County. The jail was located on the grounds of the current Oconee County Courthouse. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 14, 1982, along with the Oconee County Cage. At the time of its listing, the jail was one of the few remaining nineteenth or twentieth century jails in upper northwestern South Carolina. It was demolished around 1985. Subsequently, it was delisted on December 12, 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pottawattamie County Jail</span> United States historic place

The Pottawattamie County Jail, also known as 'Squirrel Cage Jail' in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States was built in 1885 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The building is one of three extant “squirrel cage jails,” also known as rotary jails. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilbur B. Talley</span> American architect

Wilbur B. Talley was an architect in Florida. He worked in Jacksonville until the death of his wife Nellie and daughter Sarah, who were riding in a car hit by a train on December 21, 1919. After the accident, he moved to Lakeland, Florida where he continued working as an architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kewaunee County Sheriff's Residence and Jail</span> United States historic place

Kewaunee County Sheriff's Residence and Jail is a building in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, located at 613 Dodge Street on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. It was built in 1876 as the sheriff's office, residence, and county jail. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hancock County Jail</span> United States historic place

The former Hancock County Jail is located at 40 State Street in Ellsworth, the county seat of Hancock County, Maine. Built in 1885–86, it has a well-appointed living space for the jailer in the front, and a series of cells in the back. It was operated as a jail until the early 1970s, and is now home to the Ellsworth Historical Society, which operates it as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 for its architectural and historical significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin County Sheriff's Residence and Jail</span> Historic government buildings in Iowa, United States

The Franklin County Sheriff's Residence and Jail is a historic building located in Hampton, Iowa, United States. The combination sheriff's residence and jail was the most common type of detention facility built by Iowa counties from the 1840s to around 1950. In this facility in Hampton the sheriff's residence was the two-story Italianate style structure closest to the street. There was a cell on the second floor used for female or juvenile prisoners. The sheriff's wife generally provided the meals and laundry services for the prisoners from the residence. The small cell block for men and a women's holding cell was in the single-story wing off of the back of the house. The building was constructed by local attorney D.W. Dow, and P.J. Pauly & Bro. of St. Louis provided the cells. It was completed in 1880. The sheriff continued to reside here into the 1960s, and the building was used for a jail until 1988. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. In 2003 it was included as a contributing property in the Hampton Double Square Historic District.

St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the continental United States, was founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The Spanish Crown issued an asiento to Menéndez, signed by King Philip II on March 20, 1565, granting him various titles, including that of adelantado of Florida, and expansive privileges to exploit the lands in the vast territory of Spanish Florida, called La Florida by the Spaniards. This contract directed Menéndez to explore the region's Atlantic coast and report on its features, with the object of finding a suitable location to establish a permanent colony from which the Spanish treasure fleet could be defended and Spain's claimed territories in North America protected against incursions by other European powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockdale County Jail</span> United States historic place

Rockdale County Jail is a historic building at 967 Milstead Ave. in Conyers, Georgia. It was built in 1897 and served as the jail for Rockdale County, Georgia from then until a new jail was built in 1968. It was entered into the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on August 26, 1982. It now serves as the headquarters for the Rockdale County Historical Society and is known as the Old Jail Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flagler County Jail</span> Flagler County Florida jail

During the 1930s, the Flagler County, Florida Jail was in dire need of repairs and enlargement. Flagler County Commissioners were under pressure from local citizens and grand juries to repair the building or erect a new one. After months of negotiations, during 1938, between the Flagler County Board of Commissioners and the Works Progress Administration WPA an agreement to build a new Flagler County Jail building was approved. A WPA Project, No. 4242, was approved that cost approximately $24,000. It was agreed that the costs would be divided between Flagler County and the WPA. Construction of the new Flagler County Jail started January 25, 1939 under the management of Z. D. Holland, WPA Supervisor and well known local contractor. It was built on 2.04 acres of county-owned property located at 1600 Old Moody Blvd., Bunnell, FL.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "St. Augustine history: What happened behind the walls of the Old Jail?". St. Augustine Record. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2022-02-19.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Old St. Johns County Jail at Wikimedia Commons