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The 1811 Lincoln County Museum & Old Jail
The 1811 Lincoln County Museum & Old Jail in Wiscasset is located on Federal Street. The jail was built from 1809-1811 and housed prisoners from 1811- 1954. From 1820-1824, this jail was the State Penitentiary, succeeded in 1824 by the recently closed Thomaston Prison. In addition to local miscreants and unfortunates, the jail's prisoners included French sailors taken during one of many privateering and piracy episodes of the day, and British POW's taken in the War of 1812. The original wooden jailer's house burned down in 1838 and the present brick structure was built in its place.
Today, the house is the headquarters of the Lincoln County Historical Association and features changing exhibitions. The LCHA is proud to feature Ladies and Lads in Love: Courtship and Marriage in Late 19th Century Lincoln County as its’ 2007 Summer exhibition.
The Lincoln County Jails, 1761- 1953
The first Lincoln County Jail was built on the grounds of the 1761 Pownalborough Court HJouse in what is now Dresden, Maine. The second Jail was built in 1795, following the court in its move from Pownalborough to Wiscasset. A committee, made up of Abiel Wood, Jeremiah Bailey and John Merrill, Jr., was appointed in 1806 to assess the conditions at the 1795 Wiscasset Jail. There had been numerous escapes from the wooden structure and the threat of destruction by fire was constant. The committee's recommendation was that a new, two story, stone facility was needed. For the next three years, the subject was examined, debated and finally resolved. A new jail would be erected on the land of Abiel Wood and Thomas Nickels for the sum of $8000.
The cornerstone for the third Lincoln County Jail was laid on August 1, 1809. Built according to plans laid out in The State of the Prisons in England & Wales by John Howard, a 19th century English prison reformer, the 1811 Jail was the first building in Maine to be built specifically to house criminals. The individual cells were considered models of the "new", more humane treatment of prisoners. The stone walls of the 'new' prison were 41' thick at the ground level and 31' thick where the roof rafters meet the stone walls. In 1810, the Court of Sessions passed a resolution that a third story be added for the accommodation of poor debtors. The Committee asked for an additional $7,000 to accomplish this, but part of this construction work was not completed until 1818.
Prisoners were transferred by mid-1811. The new Lincoln County Jail would serve the County, officially, for 102 years, but was used periodically, after 1913, when overcrowding conditions necessitated until its final abandonment in 1953. The cells on the first and second floors remain virtually unchanged to this day, with several unique examples of prisoner graffiti including a beautiful drawing of a large sailing ship, a detailed navigational map of the world, a cartoon-like drawing of a soldier, fragments of poetry and names and dates. All still on the walls where they were left over a hundred and fifty years ago, surviving testaments to their unknown authors and artists. Visitors today can read copies of the jail's original calendar beginning in July 1800, including the names of prisoners, their crimes and dates of internment.
The Old Jail in the 20th Century
The Lincoln County Commissioner's Record of October, 1913, contains the vote to close the Jail on November 16th, 1913. In 1932, prisoners were once again placed in the Old Jail, but these confinements were of short duration. Two 8-foot steel cages were installed in the Old Jail's third story to accommodate prisoners who were awaiting transfer to Kennebec County Jail, or to the State Prison, at Thomaston, and were used sporadically until 1953. Also in 1932, a 'liquor room' was made available in one of the old 'vaults' to house contraband liquor during Prohibition. Not surprisingly, even the liquor managed to escape as evidenced by a newspaper article in the Boothbay Register for June 3, 1932, under the headline “Hijackers Visit Jail-Take Seized Booze.” A thief had entered the jail, picked a lock and got out with a large quantity of liquor despite the fact that the Jailer's House was occupied at the time.
By Act of Maine's Ninety-seventh Legislature, Legislative Document #174, the County of Lincoln, State of Maine, was authorized, on January 25, 1955, to sell, assign, transfer and convey all interest in the Jail property on Federal Street to the Lincoln County Historical Association for the consideration of one dollar. Since 1955, the 1811 Lincoln County Museum & Old Jail has been open for visitors.
Hours of Operation
The museum is open Saturdays & Sundays in June and September, 10 AM – 4 PM on Saturdays and Noon – 4 PM on Sundays. In July and August the museum is open Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10 AM – 4 PM and Sundays 12 – 4 PM. October – May the museum is open by appointment only.
Admission is $4 for Adults. Admission includes both the Jail and the current exhibition. Please call ahead for group rates.
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