A Jail and a Home:
The Original Use for This Building
THE HOLMES COUNTY JAIL: BUILT IN 1877
This inscription is found on the outside of the Old Jail Building on the Southwest portion of the building. Click here to see a larger picture of it, or click on the picture at the left.
The Old Jail Building was built in 1877 and was actually used as a jail from the years 1878 to 1994, when it became too small for its occupants. The cost of the structure was a mere $25,000 at the time, and architects from Fort Wayne Indiana oversaw the construction of it. The total of sheriffs working in this building was twenty-two, and most lived inside the Old Jail.
photo by Anna Patton
For the names of the Sheriffs who served at the Old Jail Building, from 1825 to 1995
The first man in the second row, Jacob Bell, was one of the first Sheriffs of Holmes County. This picture was taken in 1905, 28 years after the Jail Building was built in 1877.
Other members in this photo are:
First Row: H.H. Robinson, surveyer; Steve Anderson, County Commissioner; Phil Deetz, County Commissioner; B.C. Fisher, County Commissioner; S.B. Fair, Auditor.
Second Row: Jacob Bell, Sheriff; C.J. Fisher, P. Attorney; Richard W. Tannyhill, Probate Judge; Carl Shuler, Clerk of Courts; Parkinson, Treasurer; E.A. Uhl, Recorder.
Picture taken May of 1905
Courtesy: The Holmes County Commissioners Office
photographer unknown, 1905
to get a first-hand account of what it was like to live in the Old Jail!
This is another picture of the jail, looking at the front door. One of the Sheriffs to serve was Arlie Crosky; his name is shown on the side by the door.
photographer unknown
Some other interesting information about the jail:
-The Jail's floor was built of eight foot square limestone blocks, eight inches thick.
-Cell walls were one solid slab of limestone, six inches thick, fastened by iron bolts and balls.
-No record of an inmate escaping had ever been recorded, but there were some attempts of escape.
-There was a corridor completely around the cell walls.
-The doors of cells were made of boiler iron that was one-half inch thick.
-Originally the jail was heated with a coal furnace.