Old Jail Museum
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- Historic Sites, Museums
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This two-story Italianate style jail was built in 1907 at a cost of $5,000. Edward Donlan, a timber baron donated land for the new county courthouse and jail. It is Thompson Falls’ oldest surviving county building. It was originally divided into incarceration cells on the second level with living quarters for the sheriff and his family on the first level.
There are four cells, each designed to hold four individuals. One cell, separate from the others, was for women and children detainees. Steel bars fastened by beams to a concrete floor and cement ceiling assured strict security within the cell room, while an 18” solid brick wall with a steel door and locks isolated it from the stairway entrance. In the 1950s, it was considered the finest jail in the state..
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Old Jail Museum