SCIENCETECH · MUSEUM
Pottawattamie County Jail
Science & Tech
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The Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, better known as the Squirrel Cage Jail, is a rare 19th-century rotary jail built in 1885 and the only surviving three-story example of its kind in the United States. Designed by William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh, it was part of a short-lived jail experiment intended to maximize security while limiting contact between prisoners and jailers through a rotating block of pie-shaped cells. Used until 1969, it later became a museum and gained recognition for its unusual engineering, rarity, and historical importance.
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Council Bluffs, Iowa
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