Rotary Jail
Encyclopedia
Design and patent
The rotary jail was initially designed by architect William H. Brown, and built by the Haugh, Ketcham & Co. iron foundry in the Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
neighborhood of Haughville.
- The object of our inventions is to produce a jail in which prisoners can be controlled without the necessity of personal contact between them and the jailer or guard... it consists, first, of a circular cell structure of considerable size (inside the usual prison building) divided into several cells capable of being rotated, surrounded by a grating in close proximity thereto, which has only such number of openings (usually one) as is necessary for the convenient handling of prisoners.
Features
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s beneath the structure which rotated the entire cell block. The structure was supported by a ball bearing
Ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least two races to contain the balls and transmit...
surface to allow for smooth rotation.
Condemned
The jails encountered problems almost immediately with inmates' limbs being crushed or interfering with the cellblock's rotation. Most of the jails had to be welded in a fixed position and refitted with individual cell accesses. All of them were condemned by June 22nd, 1939.Locations
Sources vary as to how many rotary jails had been built. The cited number varies from six to eighteen. Below are eight known rotary jail locations:Structures still standing (although turned into museums and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
):
- CrawfordsvilleCrawfordsville, IndianaCrawfordsville is a city in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,915. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County...
, Montgomery County, IndianaMontgomery County, IndianaMontgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 38,124. The county seat is Crawfordsville-Early history and settlement:...
- This is the only one to still operate.
- Council BluffsCouncil Bluffs, IowaCouncil Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
, Pottawattamie County, IowaPottawattamie County, IowaPottawattamie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 93,158 in the 2010 census, an increase from 87,704 in the 2000 census and is the second largest county by area in Iowa. The Pottawattamie county seat is located at Council Bluffs. It is one of three Iowa...
, - GallatinGallatin, MissouriGallatin is a city in Daviess County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,789 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Daviess County.-History:...
, Daviess County, Missouri - ShermanSherman, TexasSherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Grayson County, TexasGrayson County, TexasAs of the census of 2000, there were 110,595 people, 42,849 households, and 30,208 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 48,315 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...
Jails torn down:
- MaryvilleMaryville, MissouriMaryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...
, Nodaway County, MissouriNodaway County, MissouriNodaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county was organized in 1845 and named for the Nodaway River.As of 2010, the population was 23,370... - PaducahPaducah, KentuckyPaducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, McCracken County, KentuckyMcCracken County, KentuckyMcCracken County is a county located in the Jackson Purchase, the extreme western end of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 65,514. The county seat, largest city, and only incorporated community is Paducah.... - MaysvilleMaysville, MissouriMaysville is a city in DeKalb County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,212 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeKalb County.Maysville is part of the St. Joseph, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, DeKalb County, MissouriDeKalb County, MissouriDeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population is 12,892. The county was organized in 1845 and is named after the American Revolutionary War general Johann de Kalb. The county along with Buchanan and Andrew counties in Missouri and Doniphan County,... - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, UtahSalt Lake County, UtahSalt Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. It had a population of 1,029,655 at the 2010 census. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. It occupies Salt Lake Valley, as well as parts of the surrounding mountains, the Oquirrh Mountains to the west...