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Image by Vladimir De Vico

THE FIRST JAIL

  • In the new two-story building, the court was held upstairs and the jail downstairs

  • The jail consisted of a dungeon, three holding cells, and an underground vault for debtors

  • There was no segregation concerning age, gender, or degree of crime during this time. Men, women, children, drunks, debtors, beggars, murderers, and the criminally insane were all housed together

  • The grand jury only met twice a year, so prisoners were usually held for very long periods of time

  • There was no plumbing in the cells

  • From 1824 to approx. 1850, the condition of the jail deteriorated tremendously and prisoners were frequently escaping​​

IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE.

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