DeRidder, Louisiana. Gothic Jail. I spent an entire day there photographing the jail. It was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Unused since 1982, the building is about to undergo renovations to eventually open to the public as a museum. The dank and partially flooded underground tunnel connecting the jail to the court house was scheduled to be permanently sealed and filled just days after my visit.

From Wikipedia:
"The building known as the "Old Beauregard Parish Jail" is a structure that is considered one of the most distinctive of its type in the US.[citation needed] The structure has the characteristics of the collegiate Gothic architectural style, with shallow arches, dormer windows, and a central tower. This style was popular with colleges, universities and churches. The iron bars in most of the windows give the structure an eerie appearance. Inside, there is a spiral staircase that leads up to three floors of jail cells. Another history-making fact is that each cell had a toilet, shower, lavatory and window. When the jail was in use, prisoners could often be seen waving from the barred windows.

It was built to house 50 or so prisoners, but held 13 in comfort. The walls are 13 to 21 in (0.33 to 0.53 m) thick, made of reinforced concrete with a blasted finish. The first floor has quarters for the jailer and his family. In the jail's basement, a long corridor leads to the courthouse next door.

In 1928, there was a famous double execution by hanging in the jail for two murderers. These were the only recorded hangings in the jail. The prisoners were hanged by an apparatus at the top of the spiral staircase. After this the jail became known as "the hanging jail".

The jail was used until 1982, when a court action forced it to close. On October 4, 1981, it was put on the National Register of Historic Places, along with several other buildings in DeRidder."


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