Fall Notice: 

*reliable staff hard to find - schedule is subject to change without notice *
OCTOBER is VERY BUSY in town. 
Come early to find Parking - details click HERE 
Expect crowds, traffic, & long wait times everywhere!

                                              The Old Jail is privately owned.  THANK YOU for coming! 

               Your tour ticket purchase provides the funding to keep up on the restoration of this historic building. 

The front wall & steps needed to be rebuilt = $50,000. New heat blowers in the cellblock = $12,000. Roof Repair = $20,000. 

Note: The Jail is Closed each year from November until the end of May.
The whole building is secured for the winter weather.  The water is turned off & pipes drained so there is no possibility of a frozen pipes. The many window coverings and cell door have insulated covers.  The winter temperature is kept at about 40° (a damp and cold temperature). To maintain the 40° tempurature the furnace runs about 4 hours a day at a cost of about $850/month. 

Why don't we turn on the heat and have winter tours?  It would cost us about $250/DAY to heat the Jail to a comfortable temperature to have visitors.

The Old Jail             Museum

         Daytime Tours

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           Lots of info here...

                keep scrolling & reading... thanks!

CLOSED FOR WINTER - See you in Spring 2024​

Thank you for a fabulous 2023!
We are now closed to winterize the building.

The Jail is Closed each year from November until mid- May.
The whole building is secured for the winter weather.  The water is turned off & pipes drained so there is no possibility of a frozen pipes. The many window coverings & doors have insulated covers.  The winter temperature is kept at about 40° (a damp and cold temperature). To maintain the 40° temp in the building, the furnace runs about 2-4 hours/ day at a cost of about $850/month (in 2022). Now with heating costs higher, this year will be more.

Why don't we turn on the heat and have winter tours? 

With the visitors coming & doors constantly opening & closing, it would cost us about $250/DAY to heat the Jail to a comfortable temperature to have staff work
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     TOUR DETAILS:       

   *Ticket sales in person only starting approx. 11:45am Sat & Sun

     * Weekends may sell out early so don't wait to buy tickets​

     * All Tours are Guided                                                               

     * Tour Length: approximately 30 min
     * Tours leave ever 20 - 30 min
     * All Tickets Purchased in Person the Day of the Tour
     * Tickets may be Purchased for a Time Later in THAT Day
     * Sorry, NO Advanced Sales or Online/ Phone Sales

     * Limited Tickets Available each day (weekends are busiest)

     * NO Dogs or other pets (service dogs only!)

     * If you are uncomfortable being near others, do not purchase ticket

NOTE:  Weekends (usually Saturdays) have been VERY BUSY in our small town. October weekends are EXTREMEY busy If you want to find a parking space in town on a weekend, we suggest you come early (before noon).  Jail tickets are limited so do not wait until the last tour to come purchase tickets because some weekends we sell out by mid-afternoon. 

Jail Parking Lot ...  Due to limited size,NO PARKING  in our lot except forHandicapped / Disabledplates or tags. If you do not have a handicapped tag, but cannot walk to the jail due to a physical condition, please park in our lot & advise staff as soon as you arrive.  Please move your vehicle out of our lot immediately after your tour.  A few parking spaces in our lot available weekdays for non-handicapped. Please call ahead for space availability - must move vehicle immediately after your tour!
(Violators. will be towed at vehicle owner's expense). No large vehicles, extended pick-up trucks, campers, passenger vans, or vehicles with bike racks.   

Sorry, no parking on the street as this is by permit only & you will get a $50 ticket.  The lot on the street level is NOT for jail use. It is home-owner parking only & you will be towed if you park there. 

PARKING - There is a County Parking Lot behind the train station (off Rt 209) 5 walkable blocks away. Note: If you approach the County Parking lot from Rt 903, on weekends you will not be able to turn left into the lot.  Make the first right then turn left at the light.  

The Church's Lot a few houses up from the jail ACROSS THE STREET may offer parking. Not open Saturdays due to Mass.  

When open, there will be a tent sign on the sidewalk with info to pay by mobile app.  

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Tour Price:

$ 12 - Adult 
$  10 - Teenager (13 - 17)  - $9
 $  7 - Children ( 5 - 12) 

      Children 4 & under FREE

       ACTIVE Duty USA Military - FREE with ID

       $2 off for US Veterans with ID

You will learn about 500 years of history & we try to make learning fun but this is NOT an amusement park!   
Tours consist of small groups of about 23 & is about 1/2 hour long. NO SELF GUIDED TOURS! You will be seated in the Living Room to watch a video presentation between 10-16 minutes. A guide will then escort your group into the dungeon & cell block.  After your guided tour, you are welcome to take time on your own in the main cell block.  There are informational signboards on the walls, and you may go in any cell that is opened. Photos may be taken of everything EXCEPT the HANDPRINT.  On your own, you may also see the visitor's room, kitchen, & go upstairs to see the warden's quarters & woman's cells. Before you leave, be sure to have a photo taken "behind the bars" which are located between the kitchen and gift shop. (Picture is free with your camera/phone.  If you would like a group photo, please ask a guide to take your picture). Before you leave, in the kitchen there is a map for you to put a pin in to show us where you are from & please sign our guest book to let us know how you enjoyed your time in jail.

Our TOUR GUIDES are all in high-school & college who each strive to give you the best tour possible.  If we need to improve, please leave a comment in the guest book.  We cannot do better if we do not know there is a problem.  It is not easy speaking in-front of a group plus maintaining order so everyone has a good experience. If your guide provides you an excellent tour, tips are greatly appreciated! (A private tip can be handed to your guide & or put in the jar where tips are divided between the guides)

The future aspirings of this year's guides:

1)State Police / FBI

2) K9 Officer

3) Anesthesiologist

4) Vet

5) Marketing

6) Sports Rehab

7) Cyber Security

​8) Pro Quaterback (or sports rehab)

TROLLEY:

There is a new trolley tour in town which provides a historical, narrated trolley tour; a continuous 1 hour loop Friday, Saturday & Sunday weekly with unlimited re-boarding. They may also offer parking opportunities with transportation to town from other areas. For more info on trolley www.JimThorpeTrolley.com

HANDICAPPED info:

Accessibility - Our historic 150 year old building has steps to come in all entrances.
Once in the front of the building, there is a step up and down to get into the main cell block to see the handprint.

The second floor & dungeon are only accessible by stairs.

Our back entrance stairway is more "modern".  
There is one small step onto a concrete pad & another step into the staircase platform.  
There are then 4 steps into the cellblock (picture below) 
This entrance is off the gated exercise yard. 
If you think you would be able to manage this stairway and come with someone who can help you, we will open the back gate.

Our staff may hold doors but cannot physically assist. 
If you cannot make it in the building, on a nice day we would be happy to set up the video presentation outside where you could watch it. 

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