If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 709

 

 

 

 

 

Old St. Johns County Jail, St. Augustine, Florida, 1983

 

This unused 1983 Souvenir card features a color photograph of “The Old St. Johns County Jail.”  It was published by Florida Souvenir Co., Dixie Highway, St. Augustine, Florida and has the identifier:  FS401, 116848 at the center bottom margin on the reverse.  The blurb at the upper left on the reverse:  “Old Jail, St. Augustine, Florida.  “The Old Jail” in the Oldest City in the U.S.A. where you’ll find items that date back into the 1600’s, is one of the most educational and interesting sites in St. Augustine, Florida.”

 

The P.J. Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company designed and built the jail in 1891.  The building was used as a jail until 1953 at which time the jail facilities were moved to a new modern building.  The original building had a two-story northern wing that could hold up to 72 prisoners.  There were areas for the general population, a women’s section, a maximum-security area for the most dangerous prisoners, plus a death row cell.  A kitchen was located on the lower level.  The two-story southern wing contained the sheriff’s office and living quarters for his family.  Conditions in the jail were poor by modern standards. 

 

In 1987 the Old Jail was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  Today it serves as the Old Jail Museum with the sheriff’s quarters restored, a display of weaponry and a pictorial history of the hangings carried out at the Old Jail.  During the time it operated as the jail a total of eight men were hung from gallows.  Tours of the Jail, complete with costumed guides, are available.  During the Old Town Trolley’s Ghost and Gravestones tour, the Jail is used as the grand finale.

 

This jail is one of several built by the Pauley Jail Company.  Members of the Pauley family were steamboat blacksmiths on the Mississippi River in the mid 1850s.  They used their skills to design and build steel cages that could be mounted on flatbed wagons and used as portable jail cells.  Later the cages would be installed in buildings.  The company eventually became associated with traditional jail and prison construction.  Their “Patent Rotary Jail remains a testament to American inventiveness.”  [Quote from:  www.paulyjail.com/legacy]

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Johns_County_Jail

https://www.pualyjail.com/legacy