A Look Back: What happened behind the walls of the Old Jail

From housing the county's notorious prisoners to becoming a tourist destination, the Authentic Old Jail Tourist Attraction plays an important role in the history of the St. Johns County.

The Old Jail has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in St. Augustine, but just 62 years ago, it was the last place anyone wanted to be, said Dave Chatterton, general manager for Old Town Trolley Tours.

Built in 1891 by the Pauly Jail Company, it served as the county jail for 62 years. During that time, it was given multiple citations for its conditions, said Gena Kish, history teller for the Old Jail.

"People were rounded up on trumped-up charges like loitering and intoxication, and in those days, when you were rounded up, it was pretty much a death sentence," said Dana Ste. Claire, director of St. Augustine 450th Commission.

Terrible conditions

The 2½ story jail held 72 male prisoners and 12 female prisoners. Everyone was required to work as part of their sentence, Kish said.

"If they were incredibly infirm or unable to work in the fields, they worked out in the front garden," she said.

Six women shared one cell, and since there was no electricity or running water, buckets served as a bathroom, she said.

The women were responsible for cleaning and cooking for the male prisoners and the sheriff's family, she said.

"They were like prison-maids," Kish said. "It was a dark, dirty place."

But the women who were locked up in the jail weren't necessarily criminals.

"They would drag women of low reputation down here, so if you didn't have a good family name or a husband, you could be thrown in jail," she said. "

The 72 men were housed separately from the women. There were four beds to a cell, but Kish said more than four people were crammed inside.

While women were sent to work in the kitchen, men were sent to work in the fields.

Prisoners were sent out to local farmers through a leasing system, where the sheriff rented out criminals to farmers to work in the fields, Kish said.

They would work outside for months at a time and would travel in cage, shackled together by the ankles.

"They weren't working with the proper equipment and sometimes didn't even have shoes," she said.

Often, they would return to the jail with open wounds from the manacles that dug into their flesh.

"It was more extreme than harsh," Ste. Claire said.

Prisoners only lasted about two years before dying from disease, violence, malnutrition, or being hung, Kish said.

"The only time a doctor came was on hanging days," she said. "The death rate was notorious, and an unrecorded number of people have died here."

Plumbing was installed in 1914 in the men's cells, but women went without plumbing until the jail closed in 1953, Kish said.

Notorious prisoners

There are eight recorded executions at the Old Jail, two of which were for accused murderers, Kish said.

Sim Jackson was hanged in 1908 after murdering his wife with a straight razor in 1906.

"He nearly beheaded her," Kish said.

Two years later, Charlie Powell, who was accused of killing a man for spreading rumors about his wife, was hanged.

People flocked to the jail during execution days, and would climb telephone poles to get a good view, Chatterton said.

Eventually, the county had to control the crowds by not announcing the specific time of the hanging, and instead would give a time frame, he said.

"They would say 'between the hours of' to keep people from standing out all day," Chatterton said.

Prisoners kept away from visitors

The Old Jail, which is on San Marco Avenue, originally was built on Cordova Street. But Henry Flagler paid the county $10,000 in cash to demolish it and move it to its current location, Kish said.

"He didn't want criminals to be near his hotel," she said.

Ste. Claire added: "He [Flagler] wanted to move it away from his esteemed guests."

But Flagler also wanted the jail to fit in with the rest of the buildings in St. Augustine.

"He didn't want any ugly buildings in St. Augustine," Kish said.

The jail was built in a Romanesque Revival style, according to a nomination form from the National Register of Historic Places Inventory.

"The use of this round-arched, pre-Gothic, Medieval style began in the United States in the mid-1840s and was so successful that it had become the preferred style in many locations for churches and public buildings," the form said.

Because the jail was extravagantly built that people thought it was a hotel, and would go there, wanting a room, St. Claire said.

"It was a nice looking jail, but what was going on in it was horrific," he said.

Jail turned museum

The Old Jail was operational until 1953, and shortly after, it was turned into a museum and changed hands three times.

It was purchased by H.L. McDaniel in the 1950s who "populated the building with mannequins dressed in prison stripes and gallows in the courtyard," according to a 1987 article published in The Record.

"McDaniel was an early tourism pioneer," Ste. Claire said.

McDaniel sold the Old Jail to Melvin Bayer in 1986, who spent $95,000 to renovate the 2.7 acre property, adding a restaurant, gift shop and snack bar, a 1992 Record article said.

Historic Tours of America bought the Old Jail in 1999, and continues to operate it today.

The company owns and manages Old Town Trolley, Ghosts & Gravestones, Potter's Wax Museum, the Oldest Store Museum Experience, the St. Augustine History Museum and the St. Augustine Welcome Center.

The museum also houses one of the very first fingerprinting kits in Florida.

The Old Jail received it in 1908, and it changed the way crime was fought, Kish said.

"Between the phone on the wall and the fingerprint kit, this was a crime fighting revolution in the south," she said. "Not only could they catch more criminals, they were finally getting the correct criminals."

Paranormal activity

Staff and visitors have experienced paranormal activity in the jail, Kish said.

"Various people have seen various things throughout the day," she said.

People have also been touched and grabbed, one man had bruises on his arm after being grabbed by something, Kish said.

"One figure people report seeing is called "The Crawler," which is a figure that low crawls on the floor of the main cell block, following people," she said.

***

The museum is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.