Sheriff's Residence & Jail

Location: Courthouse Square

History of the Building:

The Sheriff's Residence is constructed in the French Second Empire style, using Hamilton County woods such as walnut and poplar. The supporting walls are a foot thick and made of locally fired bricks.  The jail section is made of plain limestone walls.

The jail was built in 1876, and it is one of only two jail buildings located on the downtown square in Indiana.  The jail in the rear is not an addition to the origianl structure.  The limestone was used to distinquish the jail from the residence. 

Architectural firm W.R. Parsons of Terre Haute built the structure for $28,747.  Then in 1992, almost $500,000 was spent to renovate the structrue.  Part of the renovations were replacing the tower that had been missing for many years.  The building was leased to the Hamilton County Historical Society and now operates as the Hamilton County Museum of History. 

Most inmates of the jail were local people in on misdemeanors. Charles Manson was here as a teenage car thief.