In 1891, an oil tycoon named Henry Flagler contracted a company to construct a jail on San Marco Ave. in St. Augustine Florida. Mr Flagler wanted the jail to be constructed so that it didn't look like a jail, as he feared it would scare off potential investors and tourists that would stay at his hotel. Money talks, and Henry Flagler paid the county $10,000 in cash to demolish the original jail and move it to its current location.
Flagler also wanted the jail to fit in with the architectural vision he had for this area.
He didn’t want any ugly buildings in St. Augustine,
Because the jail was constructed not to look like a jail, people thought it was a hotel, and they would go there looking for a room.
This is just my opinion, the guests that showed up there were probably bigger criminals than the poor souls being incarcerated.
As jails go, I guess the jail Henry Flagler had built looks nice, but what was going on in it was horrific.
The Old Jail was operational until 1953, and shortly after, it was turned into a museum.
People were rounded up on trumped-up charges like loitering and intoxication, and in those days, when you were rounded up, it was pretty much a death sentence.
Prisoners only lasted about two years before dying from disease, violence, malnutrition, or being hung.
Prisoners were sent out to local farmers through a leasing system, where the sheriff rented out criminals to farmers to work in the fields.
The living conditions of the prisoners who would spend 12 hours a day, seven days a week laboring in the sweltering heat were horrid. Many of the men worked barefoot, and their diet provided them with the bare minimum.
These convict cars were used to transport the criminals. These cars also provided the men with their sleeping quarters.
Women were also incarcerated in this jail.
They were responsible for cleaning and cooking for the male prisoners and the sheriff’s family. They were maids, and I'm sure these woman had to wear many hats, as they were at the mercy of the sheriff and his pals.
But the women who were locked up in the jail weren’t necessarily criminals.
They would drag women of low reputation down here, so if you didn’t have a good family name or a husband, you could be thrown in jail.
By the time the Old Jail in St. Augustine closed it's doors, eight inmates were executed by hanging.
People would come from far and wide on execution days, some spectators would climb telephone poles to get a better view.
Man's cruelty has long been recorded, and this beautiful area and the people who inhabited it years ago were no different! 😢
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