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Historic Pottawattamie County
LOCATION 2008 HOURS OF OPERATION
ADMISSION
The design and size
of the Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail make it a one-of-a-kind
structure. It was one of 18 revolving (“squirrel cage”,
"human rotary", or "lazy Susan") jails built. It is the only
three-story one ever built. Built at a cost of about $30,000, our unique jail has three floors of revolving pie-shaped cells inside a cage. The front part of the building had offices for the jailer, kitchen, trustee cells, and quarters for women.
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. Today, only 3 revolving jails remain: a one-story structure in Gallatin, Missouri; a two-story jail in Crawfordsville, Indiana; and the unique three-story jail here. All three are preserved as museums.
For extensive additional information about the Historic Squirrel Cage Jail, please visit this page.
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The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa was founded in 1934 and is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to kindling and keeping alive an active interest in state and local history. Contributions and inquiries should be directed to the Society at P.O. Box 2, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51502-0002. For additional information, phone 712-323-2509 or e-mail us here. This site is optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer, and not all features may work with certain other browsers. Please let us know about site issues you encounter. Copyright ©
The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa
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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 Squirrel Cage Jail provides students and adults the opportunity to
experience first-hand a unique piece of cultural and architectural history and
to gain an understanding of this building’s unique place in cultural and
national history.