Montgomery County Rotary Jail

Montgomery County Rotary Jail and the sheriff’s residence were built in 1882 as the first rotary jail built in the U.S., constructed to plans based on the patented design of William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh of Indianapolis. It remained in use until 1973, opened as a museum and began restoration in 1975, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Its circular cell block has sixteen wedge-shaped cells on a two-story turntable around a central shaft, a design that promised better prisoner security and jailer safety. The cell block was immobilized in the 1930s as a hazard to prisoners. County jails were first established in 1792 under the laws of the Northwest Territory and continued under the laws of the Indiana Territory and the state constitutions of 1816 and 1851.

Crawfordsville, Indiana · United States