Daviess County Jail, 1888-1889
( Squirrel Cage Jail )
| Dates: | 1888-1889 |
| Location: | Gallatin, Missouri |
| Rotary Jail: | Pauley Jail Building & Manufacturing Co., of St. Louis |
| Cost: | $11,261.15 |
The Daviess County Jail was built in the late-1880s and is one of three remaining rotary jail buildings. The one-story jail is attached to a two-story sheriff's residence. The building was a much simpler design than the documented examples of buildings housing Haugh, Ketcham & Co. rotary jails. A simple octagonal brick building with a hipped roof and a large ventilator comprises the jail.
There were originally eight cells in the cell block. The rotary cell block (also called the "squirrel cage") was dismantled in 1964. The jail closed in 1975. In 1990 the building, then vacant, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It has been renovated and is now the Daviess County Visitors' Center.
24 miles to the west in Maysville, stood the DeKalb County Jail, another rotary jail.
Here is a link to a page with a photograph and some historical information on the Daviess County Jail.