Students from Mrs. Saufler's classroom looking at the Old Jail.
by
Zack and Adam
In 1809, when the cornerstone of the old jail was made,
Wiscasset was a BIG seaport. Sailors and lumbermen brought disorder
to our town after long voyages and lonely times in the woods. There
were many fights so we needed a bigger jail. Six thousand dollars was
appropriated for a new jail.
The jail was built of granite from a neighboring quarry in Edgecomb.
Small numbers of prisoners could be held in the twelve cells instead
of being thrown all together into a common dungeon. The windows had
two rows of bars but no glass and no heat!
Students from Mrs. Saufler's classroom looking at the Old Jail.
One Wiscasset resident we interviewed told us that the jail was
used from 1811 until 1953, when it was closed by Sheriff Stanley
Waltz. Sheriff Waltz wanted to preserve the jail and he and Mildred
Burrage formed the Lincoln County Cultural and Historical
Association. The jailer's house has been turned into a museum
with exhibitions. Tourists may visit The Old Lincoln County Jail in
the summer.
Another Wiscasset resident told us The Old Lincoln County Jail
deputies fed the prisoners tea, gingerbread, soup, and biscuits. They
put children ten years and older in the jail for being bad to their
mothers and stealing apples and not doing what there fathers told
them to do. We are glad they don't do that nowadays.