When Chariton had both "Calabouse" and jail

This section of the 1883 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Chariton caught my eye the other day when I noticed that it located both the 1881 Lucas County Jail and Sheriff's Dwelling and the old 1871 "Calabouse" that the newer structure had replaced.

The block shown is just off the southwest corner of the square, bounded these days by Court Avenue, South Main Street, Linden Avenue and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe railroad tracks. Veterans Memorial Park now is located on the old jail site, but many will remember the last building to stand there --- built during 1916 to replace the 1881 building shown on the map and demolished in 2014.

The only structure shown on the 1883 map that still is standing is the dwelling to the upper left, now a well-kept apartment building, although our current City Hall and fire station are located on the site shown here as well as adjoining lots to the south.

+++

Anyhow, Chariton's first jail, a two-room log structure, was built about 1853 on a lot off the alley a half block due west of the courthouse. At some point prior to 1870 it was replaced in the same location by a one-story brick building of similar size that was declared unfit for use that year by judges holding court in the county and condemned.

County supervisors were in a bind at this point because they couldn't convince Lucas County voters to approve a bond issue to fund a new jail and the county had been ordered to transport its prisoners to the Wapello County Jail in Ottumwa for safekeeping, a considerable inconvenience --- and expense.

So they did what they could using available funds during 1871 and spent about $250 to build the "Calabouse" on a county-owned lot a block south of the old jail. Bricks from the old jail were recycled when possible and steel cages added later to confine prisoners considered dangerous or likely to attempt escape. By 1880, however, that building had been condemned, too.

This time, supervisors were able to pass a bond issue and a new jail with attached residence for the county sheriff was constructed just southwest of the Calabouse. This structure cost $12,000 and was widely praised as state of the jailhouse art at the time.

Unfortunately, it was poorly constructed and by 1915 was falling apart and yet again, Lucas County's jail was condemned. That's when contractor Andrew Jackson Stephens --- the same guy who built the Stephens House on what now is the Lucas County Historical Society Museum campus --- submitted the successful bid of $14,500 for the 1916 structure that lasted until 2014.

+++

The Pitman House, on the corner east of the jail, was one of Chariton's early hotels. Built during 1861, it had by 1871 become the Atlantic House and then by 1881, the Pitman House. It continued to operate at this location until 1904 when it was destroyed by fire.