Daviess County Rotary Jail - Gallatin, Missouri
Posted by: YoSam.
N 39° 54.939 W 093° 57.862
15S E 417580 N 4418840
Often called the "Squirrel Cage" jail
Waymark Code: WMQQ0D
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/16/2016
Views: 2
County of building: Daviess County
Location of building: 310 W. Jackson St., Gallatin
Built: 1889
"The Daviess County rotary jail and sheriff's residence were built in 1888. The two story brick sheriff's residence was connected to the jail building. The jail building is octagonal shape on its exterior. The jail is one of six rotary jails built in the United States. In its original state, the jail worked like a lazy Susan where the eight pie-shaped cells sat on a turntable. The cells and turntable were surrounded by a stationary circular wall of iron bars. Using a hand crank, the turntable was rotated and the cells could be lined up with a single entrance door in the outer stationary cell which was operated only by the jailor. The jail was built by Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, inventors of a patent rotary jail. Their design was based on William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh's 1881 patent for a rotary jail issued July 12, 1881."
~ National Register Nomination Form