Converse County Jail

As one of the oldest existing structures in Douglas, this little building has a rich history that belies its innocent and essentially nondescript appearance. If, with its gabled roof and squat posture, it seems strangely out of place amongst the commercial buildings around it, it is only because it was originally built for a distinctly non-commercial purpose: it housed, not buyers and sellers, but their nemeses—thieves and murderers—while serving as the Converse County jail from 1888 to 1915. At a cost of $4,000 (about $75,000 in today’s dollars), and within a floor plan measuring 22 by 44 feet, it included a sheriff’s office and kitchen at the front and two jail cells at the rear, each accommodating four bunks. Cell windows (in the back wall) were barred with iron rods that, fully penetrating the brick walls and bent over at the inside surface, foiled the hopes of potential escapees. The walls themselves were no less unforgiving, being fortified with floor-to-ceiling lengths of 2x6 pine, installed narrow edge-in—yielding, in combination with the exterior brick, 14-inch thick barriers to freedom. The noted construction was particularly unpopular with combatants during the Johnson County War (of 1892), and with sundry notorious figures of the Old West—including, reportedly, Tom Horn, Ed Ellis, and George W. Pike. In 1915, the jail was relocated to the new Douglas City Hall, and the present building was purchased by Douglas businessman Jacob Jenne (owner of the Jenne Building). Its most famous tenant since that time has been Ed Russell, owner of the E. E. Russell Saddle Shop—which, operating on the right side of the law, became one of the longest-held sole proprietorships in Converse County history