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| The Jail At Jim Thorpe |
This old jail was originally built in 1871. It is located
at 128 West Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229...just up the street from the
Inn at Jim Thorpe. I took
the tour there many moons ago. The gallows you see in the photos is not original,
but something they put up when the jail opened for public. There is a legend
of the handprint which goes something like this...
Legend has it that the famous Irish coal miners, convicted of murdering two of their bosses, were housed in this building that resembles an ancient castle. The immigrants fought for better conditions in the mines and swore to their deaths that they were framed by none other than Asa Packer and some of the owners of the coal mines. Alexander Campbell, John Donohue, Michael Doyle, and Edward Kelly were executed at the jail's gallows on "Black" Thursday, June 21, 1877. Supposedly, just before his death, Alexander Campbell placed his hand on the wall of Cell 17, and willed that his handprint would always be visible, an immortal sign of his innocence. That eerie handprint can be seen by visitors to this day, even though there have been many attempts to remove it from the wall. All of the brave Irishmen dubbed the "Molly Maguires" have gone down in history as being largely responsible for the birth of organized labor in this country.
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Two shots of the recreated gallows. The chairs in the first shot are for
the tour goers, who get treated to
the story of the Molly Maguires and how Alex Campbell did his handprint thing.
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The first sht is of the famous handprint, seen through the large opening
in the cell door. I took a good look at it,
and it seems a little "fishy" to me. The second shot is of the second
floor...pretty clean place.
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Here we see what the cells look like. Yes, that is a prostetic arm lying
on the cabinet. Why its there, I have no idea.
The second shot is of the Dungeon area, otherwise known as Solitary Confinement.
The cells down here were barely big enough
for a man to be in and they were only given a bucket for a toilet. Poor guys.