After 142 years sheriff abandoning county jail house

One of the oldest buildings in Nuckolls County is being phased out of use. This week the Nuckolls County Sheriff's department is moving to its new location on East Fourth Street in Nelson. The sheriff's office had been associated with the Nuckolls County jail since this jail's construction 142 years earlier in 1878. The early history describes the jail as a fine appearing brick structure costing $10,000 and occupying the highest point of ground within the corporate limits of Nelson.

During the regular election on October 12,1875, the question of levying a four-mill tax for three years for the construction of a jail was submitted to the voters. The law required a two-thirds majority to pass. The proposition was defeated 109 for with 61 against.. The county board of commissioners assumed the authority. It had the building erected in 1878 at a cost of $7,459. The county courthouse at the time was a wood frame structure. When compared to the courthouse, the new jail was indeed a palace with four cells made of boiler iron. The cells opened into a yard enclosed with three-quarter inch iron bars.

It has been a longtime since anyone has described the building as a palace though jokesters have sometimes referred to it as the county's Gray-bar Hilton. As it was constructed with soft brick, the exterior surface was covered with stucco and painted. The building has sported different colors over the decades including a shade of pink and the current gray color. Space was saved on the square where the jail was built for a courthouse. The current courthouse was constructed there in 1890.

The jail housed prisoners and served as the residence of the county sheriff. The sheriff and his family resided on the second floor.

The cells appear to be secure but a lynch mob removed a prisoner from the jail in 1887 and hung him from the Rock Island railroad trestle over Elk Creek at the southeast edge of Nelson. A keen eye will discern a few remnants of the piling in the bed of Elk Creek.

A former cook from a railroad work gang, Jim, was accused of murdering a local resident for the proceeds from a hog sale. A coroner's jury found him guilty and he was bound over for trial. The trial was never held . A mob, hooded and armed, marched to the jai;. They forced their way into the cell area, looped a rope over the prisoner's head and neck. They marched the hapless and helpless man seven blocks to the trestle. They secured the rope to the trestle and pushed him off the edge. Gravity did the dirty work. The mob dispersed leaving the crew of the morning train into Nelson the unenviable of task of removing the body. The victim was buried in a pauper's grave at the Nelson Cemetery. No legal action was ever taken against those in the mob. There was a bizarre postscript to the hanging. In 1890, a phrenologist (a "scientist" who studied the shape of the skull as an indication of mental ability,) was giving lectures in Nelson. At the same time the body of "Jim the Cook" was disinterred and the head removed and spirited away. This lecturer, in another town a few months later, had a skull on display which he claimed came from a murder. Coincidence or not?

The jail escaped the disastrous fire of 1883 which destroyed much of Nelson's business district.

After the courthouse was constructed, the sheriff's office was located in two small rooms in the southeast corner of the second floor. That office opened directly into the court room which allowed the sheriff to keep tabs on court proceedings and his office. The space now serves as the chambers of the district judge.

Entrance to the main floor cells are was gained through a revolving steel cage type door. This door is now housed at the Nuckolls County Museum along with other artifacts from the jail. The door was reached through the kitchen where meals were prepared for the sheriff's family and prisoners. A cell for women was located on the second floor. This cell was the location of at least one unsuccessful jail break attempt.

When the sheriff's department obtained radio equipment, the base station was located in the central hallway of the jail.

An addition to the original building was constructed in the 1980s. This extension housed the sheriff's office, the radio room as well as a garage. The addition was remodelled as the 911 dispatch center grew.

A new era is underway. The office is being moved from the courthouse to the new office on East Fourth Street. The new office will open to the public on Monday or Tuesday. The new office was formerly the home of the Nuckolls County USDA offices. Those offices have been relocated to Thayer and Clay counties. The county has since purchased the building. Work has since been undertaken to remodel the space into use as the sheriff's's office and 911 dispatch center but will not have jail or holding cells. Prisoners from Nuckolls County will be housed in other counties' jail facilities.

The new office is located in the area which was once home to the Burlington railroad's Nelson depot.

The fate of the old jail house is more than likely sealed. It will probably face demolition in the foreseeable future. The county plans to retain the additions to the building if possible. So 142 years of Nuckolls County history comes to an end. If only walls could talk, what tales these could tell.