This Italianate style jail was built in 1907 at a cost of $5,000 at a time when Thompson Falls witnessed rapid growth. The building's Italianate styling is not clearly evident, exhibited only by the brick corbeling at the cornice, the very low hipped roof and low arched in the sills of ground floor openings. The identity of the building's architect seems lost to posterity.
Shortly before, Thompson Falls had been designated county seat and was in need of a county courthouse and a jail, both of which were built forthwith on land donated by one of the town's benefactors. Unfortunately, we can't say when the jail was retired. We have no information on whether the jail stood empty at any time or went directly from jail to museum.
Open from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 12 noon - 4 pm daily the Historical Society has done a nice job in putting this museum together. They change the displays regularly and have on offer a good selection of books and other literature on local history. It concentrates on the pioneers, particularly David Thompson, who explored and mapped, settled and farmed the area. Along with historic artefacts, the museum has a large collection of historic photographs.
OLD JAIL MUSEUM
Prominent landowner and state senator Edward Donlan won a political victory in the 1906 legislature with the designation of Thompson Falls as county seat for Sanders County over the rival town of Plains. By compromise, most county posts were filled by Plains appointees, but Donlan donated his own land for the new county courthouse and jail. The
two-story Italianate style jail was built in 1907 by contractors Christian and Gobelet at a cost of $5,000. It is Thompson Falls’ oldest surviving county building.
The structure was originally divided into incarceration cells on the second level and living quarters for the sheriff and his family on the first, with separate entrances for each level. The Paully Jail Company of St. Louis installed the four cells, each designed to hold four individuals. One cell, separated from the others, was for women and children detainees. Steel bars fastened by beams to a concrete floor and cement ceiling assured strict security within the cell room, while an eighteen-inch solid brick wall with steel door and locks isolated it from the stairway entrance. Though steel bars have been recently added to the downstairs windows, the building retains its 1907 appearance and is a fine example of a combination jail/sheriff’s residence of the period.
From the NRHP Plaque at the jail