Old Jail - East Wetumpka Commercial Historic District - Wetumpka, AL
Posted by: 
xptwo
N 32° 32.295 W 086° 12.339
16S E 574589 N 3600377
The sign on the wall says "Old Calaboose" and that it was the "First Jail in Wetumpka" with a building date c.1820, which would make it one of the older buildings in the city.
Waymark Code: WMHX4A
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 08/22/2013
Views: 4
The building is located on Orline Street, along the Coosa River, in a parking area behind the buildings along Bridge Street. Due to one-way streets, one has to go along Bridge Street to Company Street and turn left onto Orline. If you park downtown, there are stairs leading to the area just before you reach Bibb Graves Bridge, next to the Fain Theater.
There is not much information on the web about the building or how it has been used over the years. The following is the description from the Nomination Form:
"69. Old Jail. c.1820. Traditionally regarded as Wetumpka's first jail. One story rectangular brick structure on fieldstone foundation. Hipped roof, small barred windows on three sides and heavy wooden entrance door on eastern elevation."
The only other mention of the building comes in the beginning of the general description of the district:
"The East Wetumpka Commercial District encompasses most of the central business district of Wetumpka, Elmore County, Alabama, a town of about 5,000 people. It is a concentration of buildings clustered at the foot of a steep ridge on a bluff on the eastern side of the Coosa River. The District includes roughly five blocks but has tended to follow topography and old territorial road patterns rather than the early survey and plat maps in its development. The topography of the district provides for interesting walkways and steps as the district rises to the east from the river's edge.
The East Wetumpka Commercial District is bounded roughly on the west by the boundaries of the previously designated Bibb Graves Bridge, the east by Spring Street, the south by the southern most lot line of the Elmore County Court House and on the north by an irregular boundary based on current lot lines. (See map for precise boundaries.) It is a cohesive collection of 19th and early 20th Century commercial buildings but also includes a c.1820 structure traditionally thought to be the City's first jail.(#69)"
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): East Wetumpka Commercial Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): [Web Link]
Address:
Orline Street
Wetumpka, AL 36092
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)
Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]
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