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 Old Jail Museum - Thompson Falls, MT Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 47° 35.684 W 115° 21.092
11T E 623926 N 5272574
The hoosegow, the calaboose, the lockup, the pen, the clink, the cooler, the slammer, the joint. It's been called all those things, yet still stands as Sanders County's oldest civic building, 107 years old and now hosting the Old Jail Museum.
Waymark Code: WMMYTV
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 11/25/2014
Views: 1
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.
The building itself is a National Historic Place. See its history below.
Sanders County Jail
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
Theme:
Local history, especially that of the pioneers of the area.
Street Address:
109 Madison Street
Thompson Falls, MT
59873
Food Court: no
Gift Shop: yes
Hours of Operation:
Memorial Day through Labor Day
12 noon - 4 pm daily
Cost: 3.00 (listed in local currency)
Museum Size: Small
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
In order to log this waymark in this category, you must be able to provide proof of your visit. Please post a picture of yourself or your GPSr in front some identifiable feature or point of interest either in the museum, or on the museum grounds.
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