The Historic 2 Celled Jail On Route 66
Should any riots suddenly break out Gardner, Illinois, the police force are going to find themselves hard-pushed to house all the arrests. Well, at one point in history that would have been the case. For many years the village only had a 2 Celled Jail.
Now of course they have a regular-sized jail with all of the amenities the law requires.
That hasn’t stopped the smaller version becoming a bit of a landmark for the village, and a popular tourist stop when people are passing through.
In the early 20th century, if you were to find yourself on the wrong side of the law, you would have ended up in the dingy, two-cell jailhouse.
The tiny lock-up was built in 1906 and is actually just one room cut in half by the bars of the cells.
As far amenities.., well its hardly the Hilton. Wrongdoers had nothing but a cot to sleep on and a bucket for ablutions.
The room in front of the cells contained a small guard’s section. Here there would have been a little desk and wood-burning stove to keep everyone warm.
Amazingly you would have found prisoners in these cells, right up until the 1950s. After it was closed, it laid empty for many years until the community rallied together to restore it.
