Mariposa County’s Old Stone Jail was built in 1858 as a thirty-three by twenty-six foot structure of granite blocks quarried near Mormon Bar at a cost of 14,744.00 by J.O. Lovejoy. It originally had two stories and a gallows at the east end. In 1892, a fire gutted the building and killed its only occupant, Thomas Truit. Reconstruction removed the upper story, and the surplus granite was used as retaining walls at the fairgrounds. Several prisoners escaped over the years, usually by overpowering the guards. In 1935, two inmates escaped with outside help after rivets were cut, an iron plate was removed, and a stone block was worked loose. Both escapees were captured in Oregon. The jail was condemned in 1963 and replaced by a facility near the courthouse.