The rotary jail was a very unusual architectural design. In response to a need for better control over prisoners, 18 of the revolving, escape-proof structures were erected in the United States from 1882 through 1889.
There were problems. There were mechanical difficulties due to the extreme weight of the components. Unwary prisoners lost digits or limbs when carousels were rotated without warning--one lost his life. Because inmates could only be let out of their cells one at a time, some rotary jails were closed as fire hazards. This book describes in detail their construction, operation and eventual demise, as well as some of the colorful inmates that were held in them.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Table of Rotary Jails

Preface

Introduction

¿1.¿The Invention

¿2.¿First Rotary Jail opens in Paducah, Kentucky

¿3.¿Second Rotary Jail opens in Crawfordsville, Indiana

¿4.¿Nodaway County Jail-Maryville, Missouri

¿5.¿DeKalb County Jail-Maysville, Missouri

¿6.¿Pottawattami County Jail-Council Bluffs, Iowa

¿7.¿Douglas County Jail-Omaha, Nebraska

¿8.¿Warren County Jail-Williamsport, Indiana

¿9.¿Outagamie County Jail-Appleton, Wisconsin

10.¿Oswego County Jail-Oswego, New York

11.¿Grayson County Jail-Sherman, Texas

12.¿Chittenden County Jail-Burlington, Vermont

13.¿Salt Lake County Jail-Salt Lake City, Utah

14.¿Sedgwick County Jail-Wichita, Kansas

15.¿Ellis County Jail-Waxahachie, Texas

16.¿Kanawha County Jail-Charleston, West Virginia

17.¿Strafford County Jail-Dover, New Hampshire

18.¿Daviess County Jail-Gallatin, Missouri

19.¿Pueblo County Jail-Pueblo, Colorado

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

W.C. Madden, former editor and journalism instructor, is a member of the White County Historical Society and Tippecanoe Historical Association, and the author of 44 books. He lives in Monticello, Indiana.