Jail for sale: 135-year-old jail holds rich local history

    The last “mom and pop jail” to close in Iowa is open to new residents.
    Priced at $49,000, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail east of the courthouse on Highway 3 has been on the market since November 2014. The home and jail combination features a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and a cement and steel cellblock. It was built in 1880 in late Victorian and Italianate style and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as an example of a common type of historic local jail.
    Kathy Stanbrough, Abbott Realty agent for the property, pored over newspaper clippings and historical documents in a folder labeled “jail” at the Franklin County Historical Museum to learn about it.
    Her favorite was a June 1916 Sheffield Press article about Glen Hawkins, an inmate who removed brick and cut through a steel ceiling while the sheriff was away. Another inmate yelled out the window to try to get someone to stop the escapee. Hawkins got away, according to the article.
     Look for the full article in the July 8 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.