Squirrel Cage Jail - Council Bluffs, Iowa

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Squirrel Cage Jail - Council Bluffs, Iowa

The "Squirrel Cage Jail" Adjacent to the court house in Council Bluffs, it is one of the only three remaining rotary cell type jails left standing in the United States.

Built in 1885 at a cost of about $30,000 … nearly $8,000 for the outer building and just over $22,000 for the rotary jail unit contained in the center.

This unique jail has three floors of revolving pie shaped cells inside a cage. The front part of the building has offices for the jailer, kitchen, trustee cells, and quarters for women.

The design was the invention of William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh, both of Indianapolis, Indiana. 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".

The patented design allowed one jailer to rotate the entire, three-story cylinder (and all its prisoners) around in a circle using just a hand crank. The jail held 63 prisoners who could not leave their cells unless their cell was cranked around to the doorway.

The cell section remains much as it did in 1969 when it was closed by the county. The signatures and dates of many of its’ infamous prisoners remain scratched in the cell walls. It remains a well restored snapshot of an interesting era of our society.

The Squirrel Cage Jail is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Directions: 226 Pearl Street (I-80 Exit 3), Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501

Phone: Phone (712) 323-2509

Hours: April 1 through October 31
Wednesday through Saturday: 10 am to 4 pm
Sunday: 1 pm to 4 pm
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and Holidays
Other times by appointment

ADMISSION
Adults: $7.00
Age 6 - 12: $5.00
Age 5 & under and HSPC Members: FREE
AAA Discount available
Group rates available