Heritage \ Writings \

Bay County Jail (1872-1940)
Northeast corner of Center Ave. & Jefferson St., Bay City, MI.

1872 new jail. (Added Nov., 2008)

Pauperism and Crime in Michigan in 1872-73.

BAY COUNTY JAIL.
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A new and expensive jail is being erected in this county, opposite to the court-house, in Bay City. It has a Mansard roof, with dormer windows and a tower, and is one of the most showy buildings in the city. A large part of the expense of this building seems to be in the construction of that part to be occupied by the sheriff or jailer as a residence. At the time of the visitation the jail proper was but simply enclosed, so that its probable effectiveness and convenience when complete could not be ascertained.

A frame building used as a jail, at the time of the visit, was leased property and contained eleven cells. It was in a miserable condition for the confinement of prisoners; and yet there were nine men imprisoned in it, one of whom was a debtor confined under the non-imprisonment act. The general condition of this building was one of shabbiness; yet seven hundred and sixteen persons has been imprisoned in it at various times during the year.

1905 history. (Added Nov., 2008)

History of Bay County, Michigan, by Ausustus H. Gansser, 1905

BAY COUNTY JAIL.
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Page 112:
In the fall of 1858 a cheap wooden building for jail purposes was erected on what is now Sixth street, near Saginaw street. Sheriff Partridge did not have any vicious prisoners, for the shack would not have held them for a minute. This primitive bastile was destroyed by fire in 1863.

Page 175:
The little wooden jain on Sixth street, between Water and Saginaw streets, was wiped out in the great fire of 1863, and was replaced by another wooden building on Seventh and Monroe streets, which was used until 1870, when the present commodious County Jail and sheriff's residence was erected. This building is a two-story structure, of white brick, with iron-line Jail, the cells of boiler iron being two stories high in the center of the main room, with large corridors between the gratings and the outer wall. The upper story has apartments for female prisoners and fraudulent debtors. The whole structure is furnished with all modern appliances assuring the health and comfort of the prisoners. The Jail building also cost originally $40,000.