Charlotte County Gaol facts for kids
Charlotte County Gaol is a historic prison that was first built in 1786. It is located in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. Over the years, two different buildings served as the county's main jail.
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The First Charlotte County Jail
The very first jail in Charlotte County, New Brunswick was built in 1786. This was only three years after the town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick was settled. It was a wooden building located on Water Street. The jail had four cells on the ground floor and a courthouse upstairs.
However, this first jail had a big problem: the cell floors were just packed dirt. This made it very easy for prisoners to escape! So many people got away that in 1828, the local Sheriff was even sued. Because of this, a decision was made to build a much stronger prison somewhere else. The old wooden building was later sold and used as a town hall until it burned down in 1872.
The Second Charlotte County Jail: The Old Gaol
The second jail, often called the "Old Gaol," was built to fix all the problems of the first one. It was constructed in 1832 on Frederick Street in St. Andrews. Building it cost a lot of money for that time: £3,393!
Building a Stronger Prison
This new jail was made incredibly strong. Huge pieces of gray granite were brought from Perry, Maine. These heavy stones were used for the floors, ceilings, and walls of the prison cells. The cell doors were made of solid iron, each with a strong bolt to keep them shut.
Light inside the cells was very limited. There was only a small hole in the door for passing food and a tiny window. These windows were only four inches wide and twelve inches high. The doorways were also made very narrow. This was to make it hard for anyone to rush past the jailer if they were being let out of their cell.
Life Inside the Cells
The main floor of the Old Gaol had ten cells. These were for male prisoners and measured about six by eight feet. They were designed to be very uncomfortable. The only heat came from a small wood stove far down the hallway. In the 1930s, wooden walls were added inside the cells to try and make them warmer. But this actually made them colder because the wood blocked the heat from reaching inside!
Upstairs, there were four more cells. These were much more comfortable. They were larger and had bigger windows, letting in more light. These cells were used for women, children, and people who owed money (called debtors).
Children might be kept in the jail if their mother was there and no one else could care for them. People who owed money made up a large part of the jail's population for a long time. However, the practice of putting debtors in prison ended in 1939.
The Gaol Today
The Old Gaol was used as a temporary holding place until 1979. People had been complaining about its poor conditions since the 1940s. Today, the Old Gaol is home to the Charlotte County Archives. You can visit the downstairs cells, which still look much like they did when the jail was in use.
