ARIZONA TRAILS
MOHAVE COUNTY'S FIRST JAIL



    A few years back, a hundred or so give or take a few, the supervisors of Mohave County decided there should be a jail in Kingman. They sought bids and on March 11, 1883 the plans and specifications for two iron cells to be built by Beard & Brother of St Louis were accepted by the board. The agreed upon price was $4,800 less freight costs for the shipping of materials on the A. & P. Railroad to the nearest station which was at Mineral Park.

    Crime being what it was in those days it was determined that the two cells were woefully inadequate, so on March 29, 1885 a Notice To Contractors went out for proposals for “a branch Jail or Calaboose at Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona.” The building was to be 10 X 10 feet. Bids were received and promptly rejected by the board. Somewhere along the way, James L. Smith was contracted to erect a county jail for the sum of eight hundred dollars. This was approved on July 23, 1887. Additional bills for extra iron work in the sum of $21.32 were presented and approved. A bill submitted by Sitken and Carter for extra work and lumber in building the jail for the sum of $111 was “laid over” for action on another day. Toward the end of the year, late November or early December, a contractor named Michaels was hired to erect a fence around the jail. On December 17, 1887, the Mohave County Miner reported that said fence was “well under way ... a tight board one and is twelve feet high and it will worry a prisoner to get over it.,,

    Just seven short wears later the local newspaper, Mohave County Miner, was raising the cry for a new jail building. It felt that the existing building was in a dilapidated condition and it would cost more to guard a prisoner than to erect a new structure. So on April 7, 1894 the Grand Jury selected a committee to inspect the jail and summit a recommendation regarding such. The following is the resort they filed with the Grand Jury:
    Honored Sir: We. the committee appointed to examine into the condition of the jail of Mohave County, beg to submit the following report to-wit: We visited the jail on the third inst., and found contained therein nine prisoners. eight of whom are held for offenses committed against the general government. (in other words are United States prisoners) and one county prisoner held for murder. All of these prisoners have been regularly committed and held according to law.
    The jail we found kept in a neat and clean condition, the food furnished the prisoners wholesome and sufficient, and the bedding clean. We find the jail building proper to be in a very poor fix, and entirely insecure for the keeping and safety of prisoners, with the exception of the iron cages.
    We recommend the condemning of the wooden building, as being a dangerous fire trap, and would advise that there be no further repairs or money expended on the same building but recommend that the same be removed as soon as possible and a fireproof stone or brick building substituted with such modem improvements, as the Board of Supervisors may direct.
    We further recommend that the reservoir on the hill back of the courthouse be finished. As we find that all it needs is to be lined with cement. We recommend further that a pipeline be laid from the pump to said reservoir, the same line to be run through the jail yard with proper connections, and hose ready to be used in case of fire.

    The Mohave County Miner suggested that the new jail should be built out of brick and located behind the courthouse. Further they suggested that two more steel cells should be added with a corridor in between to ensure the safety of the sheriff should he have to deal with “some desperate criminals.” Always acting in a timely manner the Board of Supervisors took the matter into consideration, and on May 1. 1909 the Pauley Jail Company was contracted by the Board to build a new jail for the price of “a little less than $10,000.” The new building was to be of reinforced concrete, steel cells and automatic locks. The board also noted that the new building was very handsome and would be an ornament to the town. On May 15, 1909 John Mulligan was awarded the contract for the concrete work on the new jail to be completed by the first of September.

    The Mohave County Miner reported on June 5, 1909 that jail bonds were sold to Uland Southerland & Co., of Kansas City, Mo., making the necessary funds to build the new jail available. Also in the same edition was a summons filed in the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District of the Territory of Arizona, in the top the County of Mohave vs. Mary Eleanor Cohenour. Sunmer Beecher, J.E.. Carrow, and all other residents and property owners in the town of Kingman Mohave County, Arizona, who may be interested in the subject  matter of this action. The purpose being the condemnation or property that the present day courthouse and jail sit on at present.
    On September 11. 1909 The Miner reported that the forms for the new jail were taking share and the lower story of the two-story building was almost complete. When finished, the jail would be touted as one of the most safe and substantial jails in the northern part of the territory.

    All seemed well for the next 37 years, then acting on a request from then Governor Sidney P. Osborn at the behest of Sheriff Frank Porter, an inspection by Roy Casey, a federal jail inspector, was conducted on August 11, 1947. The results of this inspection were very poor. Mr. Casey found the sheriff “very intelligent and competent”, but the inadequacies and handicaps to many to overcome. The Supervisors refuse to allow funds for remodeling of the jail or for hiring jailers to supervise the prisoners. Rules, though they did exist, were not enforced. There was no staff to do so. No matrons were employed, male deputies supervised the female inmates. The partition between the men’s quarters and the women’s quarters was so thin as to be non-existent. No provisions were made for juvenile offenders. Every effort to house the younger ones in the local hospital if possible was pursued. When no other arrangements were possible, juveniles were housed with adult inmates.

    The building was found to be old, insecure, and of crumbling concrete. The rooms were very insecure and a serious risk of escapes was present. There was no kitchen or laundry, and the plumbing obsolete. The sheriff provided supervision, none at night and only scant during the daytime, and they were housed in the courthouse and not the jail itself meals were served twice a day, but the quantities were small and the variety and balance only fair. Facilities were woefully inadequate for washing and storing eating utensils by prisoners. Running water, much less hot water was unheard of bedding was dirty and Infested with bedbugs. Poor lighting and ventilation and an abundance of trash in the cells all contributed to create a situation of unacceptable living conditions. There was a verbal rule that all inmates should bathe twice a week. This was fine except no towels were provided and the lack of running water presented a problem. According to deputy, Gene Milarn, could only avail themselves of what amounted to a “spit bath”, this contributed to a very aromatic situation.

    The local doctor on an emergency basis provided medical services. The sheriff or his deputies were responsible for minor ailments that could be treated with common home remedies. If a medical emergency occurred at night, the inmates had to veil at passersby for help. If no one responded help would have to wait for morning. The Board of Supervisors did not perceive this to be a major problem and continued to refuse to employ a nighttime attendant.
 
     The summary by Mr. Casey was that the only solution, and an urgent one, was to build a new jail. He concluded that “it would be impossible to remodel or modernize the present one or to make it adequate and secure.”

According to custom, the Board of Supervisors reacted to the federal inspection and a new jail was built in the basement of the courthouse, in 1965.
    In 1964 screens were added to the windows around the first floor in order to keep prisoners from passing or receiving contraband. The original front door is now in a bunker at the airport according to Gene Milam. He also was given the key to the front door, which he still has. There is currently a push to make the old jail into a museum. The finds for this are being solicited from the federal government as this is one of two territorial jails left standing in the state.

    I spoke with several people while researching this paper and they all have fond memories or interesting stories to tell. Gene Milam remembers housing prisoners in the jail. He once arrested the World’s Champion Women wrestler and housed her there. As a child he used to stop and talk with the inmates on his way to and from school. Frank Brown remembers that when it was to hot for the inmates to sleep in the jail they were handcuffed to the railing outside the jail so they could sleep. He says that the neighborhood children would ride by on their bikes and throw fruit at them. Joe Stein remembers throwing apples at the prisoners through the lower windows. Considering portions of food supplied. the prisoners probably appreciated this practice. Deputy Milam takes inmates by the old jail on their way to court every day. They sometimes complain to him that the current jail is a real hellhole. He just grins and tells them they should have been in the old jail if they think things are bad in the present one. “Now that was a real hellhole.”

Today the old Jail is used for storage. Hopefully one day it will be restored so that many generations to come can enjoy this piece of history.




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