Village Squire, 1976-06, Page 161912, prisoners who were seriously ill were
taken under guard to the local hospital where
the guard remained on duty until the patient
was well enough to return to his cell.
Prisoners were not to go' outside the jail
walls unless under the strictest supervision
yet was common knowledge in the town that
one liberal -minded warden allowed his.
prisoners ample time to travel several miles
north of the town to construct a cottage...for
the governor's personal use. Other work
outside the walls was clone at the prison
garden or at the jail stable for horses and
cattle that grazed in the river valley nearby.
Jail sentences were handed out for what
seem by today's standards the most trivial
things. The first prisoner was sentenced to 30
days for selling at an auction without a
licence.
The jail was closed in April, 1972 and the
history that followed was perhaps more
colourful than that that went before.
Next door to the jail was the Huron -Perth
Assessment office and it needed an addition
to the building to house the burgeoning staff.
With the jail unused, the proposal was made
to tear down the exercise yard walls to allow
for the expansion. Local people interested in
saving the oldest public building in the area
fought the proposal for months. Huron
County council was split on the decision.
Those who wanted to save the building
proposed a museum of penology. Those
opposed said no one would ever go to see it. A
test was decided upon and one cold
late -winter day the jail was opened to the
public. People stood in line for hours and
The staircase in the central core spirals three
stories.
many had to he turned away. The battle was
won. The building was saved. The popularity
of the museum in the past two summers has
proved the supporters of saving the jail right.
It has become one of the most popular
. attractions in the area.
11
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14, VILLAGE SQUIRE/JUNE 1976