The Cooler - Mulvane, KS
Posted by: hamquilter
N 37° 28.453 W 097° 14.794
14S E 655045 N 4148924
The original jail in Mulvane is on display at the Cobb Family Historical Park.
Waymark Code: WM13WTF
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 03/03/2021
Views: 3
The town of Mulvane was established in 1879 at the junction of five Santa Fe Railroad lines. It was named for Joab Mulvane, a railroad official instrumental is setting up the first depot. The town straddles the county line between Sedgwick and Sumner Counties. Its population today is approximately 6050.
In the early days, in 1885, limestone was quarried to build the first jailhouse, known as "The Cooler". It was built on Main Street, west of the railroad tracks. It has not been used for its intended purpose since the 1960's. The jail was dismantled in 1975. The stones were meticulously marked and stacked for historical reasons, however, inadvertently the stones were used as fill at a new sewage plant. In 1982, the stones were recovered (255 of them), and the jail was rebuilt in 1984. It currently stands on the north edge of Cobb Family Historical Park, just north of the Historical Museum located in the old Santa Fe Depot.
The jail has two cells, each with a wooden door and a small barred window on the side.