Cedaredge Town Jail


Cedaredge City Jail Was Moved to Pioneer Town in 1981.

By Verna Barr

Yes! Cedaredge did have a city jail. It was built in 1903 by Lewis Dolf. Some say this was the first and only original jail in town - others have said the first one burned and this is the second one. In any event, it is and old jail from the Town of Cedaredge and served the community for many years in that capacity.

Jack MacAdams told, "When I was a kid, the jail was fenced in. Not only was it a jail, the fenced area served as a 'pound' for livestock that had been found loose on the streets in town. Livestock had to be claimed by owners with a fee of 25 cents charged for release."

Several stories have been told about the jail. One, related in Surface Creek County by Hazel Austin relates, "A Cedaredge visitor was picked up on a drunken charge and put into the little jail. Because the building was so well constructed, the prisoner could neither tear down the bars or break down the door. He did, somehow manage to escape through a hole in the roof, perhaps by removing the stove pipe. He escaped before daylight and apparently left the area, never to be seen again."

Scorched timbers inside the building are said to be caused by another prisoner. This "guest" started a fire inside the building to warm up the place. The fire got out of hand. Billowing smoke was spotted, the fire department responded and the flames were extinguished. Evidence is still visible inside the structure.

Eventually, Earl Troop moved the building several miles north of town to the intake where Cedaredge took its water from Surface Creek. It housed the water meter. Town Marshall Ed Watson was also in charge of the town's water system. He had a cot in there and set it up as a kind of headquarters, staying overnight to check water gauges frequently during spring run-off. The nearby grounds became a popular picnic area. Later this part of the water system was bypassed and the building was abandoned.

The Town of Cedaredge gave the structure to Pioneer Town in 1981. All they had to do was move it. Archie and Dode Peterson, Jack MacAdams and other volunteers went up early hi the day to get the building jacked high enough to put it onto Archie's flatbed trailer that he used for hauling heavy equipment. The process of getting it onto the truck and out of there took a full day of hard work. Jack recalled, "I can remember Archie had to give it everything he had to get the loaded truck up out of that hole, around a sharp corner and up onto the road."

The historical building was the second structure acquired and moved to Pioneer Town by members of the Surface Creek Valley Historical Society in 1982. It was relocated to the southwest end of the boardwalk in Pioneer Town. The heavy iron bars remain on the door and the two small windows. The construction of the building (2x6's spiked together... much the same as the silos) was solid enough that very little had to be done to it after moving it to the site. A large pot-bellied stove is displayed inside. Volunteers Vinetta Butcher and Verda Schafer created the "drunken dummy" draped across the cot.

PIONEER TOWN HISTORY

The Town Marshal was also in charge of the towns water system and a "pound" for cattle wandering the streets.

Town Jail was donated to Pioneer Town in 1981