#218 of 365~Squirrel Cage Jail

 Squirrel Cage Jail in Council Bluffs

Recently, Nick and I decided to do something a little unusual-visit a jail on beautiful Sunday afternoon.  I got buy-one get-one-free tickets and thought it would be a unique adventure.  It was a little eerie as we were the ONLY ones in the building beside the teenage girls manning the desk and we had no idea what we were in for.  The Squirrel Cage Jail is accurately named and as we walked through, we felt this sense of being trapped at all times.

 "The Jail was built in 1885 and was in continuous use until 1969.  The design and size of the Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail make it a one-of-a-kind structure.  It was one of 18 revolving ("squirrel cage," "human rotary," or "lazy Susan") jails built.  It is the only three-story one ever built.  Built at the cost of $30,000 the unique jail has three floors of revolving pie-shaped cells inside a cage.  The front part of the building had offices for the jailer, a kitchen, trustee cells, and quarters for the women. A patent issued to them on July 12, 1881, declared, "The object of our invention is to produce a jail in which prisoners can be controlled without the necessity of personal contact between them and the jailer."  It was to provide "maximum security with minimum jailer attention."  As one deputy put it, "If a jailer could count ... and he had a trusty he could trust ... he could control the jail."

Much to my amusement, Nick refused to go in the cells and felt very uncomfortable throughout the tour.  There were several artifacts from prisoners, faded names and artwork still staining the paint peeling walls, random black squirrel figurines, and historical articles telling about famous prisoners and their unfortunate choices.  As we made our way to the top, we forgot to read the pamphlet telling about the history of the place and soon found ourselves on the fourth floor looking at a door that used to be the Warden's quarters.  Nick wouldn't even walk in!  Finally I got him to open the door. What greeted us was an apartment set up with Victorian antiques, no lights, and deathly quiet that had us laughing out loud as we raced to the bottom of the stairs and out the door-definitely not our cup of tea!  Interesting visit to say the least, but not one we will be making again!

Random weird squirrels and the 4th floor Wardens Quarters