DANVILLE — County officials here finally got a modernized jail when groundbreaking commenced in 1973 on Old U.S. 36, across from Hendricks Regional Health.
The jail, with its solid steel construction, was a far cry from Hendricks County’s first jail — a two-story log structure built sometime between 1830 and ‘34 on North Washington Street. That first building didn’t last long; it was razed in 1838 and replaced by a second log structure. Though its walls were thicker, newspapers of the day still reported escapees.
The building that served as the jail before the current one was built in 1868. Featuring a central tower and mansard roof, it had steel cellblocks separated for males and females and a residence for the sheriff.
The main reason cited for building a new jail, 103 years later, was overcrowding. Said Russell Carmichael, sheriff at the time, “Probably the worst feature of the jail now is the fact that we can’t segregate the prisoners. We can’t keep the older prisoners away from the boys from the Boys School. And I feel like I just can’t throw a kid who was out after curfew in with an incorrigible from the Boys School — that’s like sending him to Crime College!”
Total cost of the jail was $975,000. Its capacity was 90 prisoners when it was built, with room for expansion.
“If it were only for the people in our own county, we wouldn’t need so much,” former County Commissioner Arthur Himsel said at the time of the groundbreaking. “We don’t have much trouble with Hendricks County people. But we’re the ‘back door’ to Indianapolis, and we have to pay for that.”
As for the former jail, it’s now the Hendricks County Museum. Founded in 1975 by the Hendricks County Historical Society, the museum boasts a collection that includes agriculture, military, education, and other aspects of the county’s heritage. The building, which has undergone extensive renovation over the years, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum is now owned and maintained by the Friends of the Hendricks County Historical Museum, Inc. The board oversees the museum’s collection, which includes the largest compilation of items from Central Normal College/Canterbury College, which was in Danville from 1878 to 1952. Aside from offering revolving exhibits, the group also in recent years has begun offering regular hours for the museum. It’s now open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays or by appointment.
For more information, call 745-4784.
