"Truckee’s historic jail museum is one of only a few surviving 19th century jailhouses of its kind in the West and one of the few remaining original buildings in Truckee. The old Bastille was used continuously from 1875 until May 1964, and ably withstood the many fires that swept the town in its early days.
Although jails are usually sturdy, Truckee’s is a virtual strongbox. The original building consisted of just the lower level, constructed of native stone. The walls are 32 inches thick at the lower level, with no windows unless one counts the small vents for each cell, which are set with irregular rows of two-inch steel bars. The ceilings are plate steel, insulated with dirt, and lined with narrow gauge railroad tracks. All doors are riveted steel, weighing an estimated 200 pounds each.
The need for a jail in Truckee was proposed in August 1873. At the time the only place to hold prisoners was a calaboose in the center of Brickelltown that proved inadequate to house the number of rowdy “guests” consigned there by local lawmen.
The area was, at that time, sending an average of one prisoner a day to the facilities at Nevada City. Nineteen citizens donated $25 each toward construction of the jail and the contract was awarded to James Stewart, Truckee’s premier stonemason at bid price of $1,235, exclusive of ironwork. The building began going up August 11, 1875, and was ready for occupancy September 22nd of that year.
The first prisoner was named William Hart, who got himself involved in a nasty brawl on Jibboom Street and was subsequently arrested by Constable Jake Teeter on September 22, 1875. Six days later a friend paid his bail and he was released, only to return a month later after starting another free-for-all in one of the local saloons.
By 1900 through continuous use, the jail had fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1901 the jail was given the addition of a second floor, which served as both a hospital ward and a holding place for female prisoners.
In 1904 two desperados escaped by making a saw from a case knife and removing one of the bars which they used for pounding a hole through the thirty-two inch wall of the larger room. It was no mean feat and called attention again to the need for reinforcement.
For years the town’s peace officers vainly petitioned the Nevada County Board of Supervisors for money to pay for improvements. In 1908, through the efforts of Constable Augustus Schlumpf, they were successful. The jail was reinforced with quarter-inch steel-lined rooms downstairs, and an upper story made of brick was added. Further improvements were made in 1909 by adding a second set of reinforced steel-grated entry doors.
Through the years, the old Bastille has held some of the old west's most notorious characters (see images below), including "Baby Face" Nelson, "Ma" Spinelli and her gang. Old timers say that "Machine Gun" Kelly spent a night in the "slammer" after being caught shoplifting in the Truckee Variety Store." (
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