Night at the Squirrel Cage Jail:
Council Bluffs, Iowa -- September 14, 2013
Join us at One of America's Most Unusual -- and Haunted --
Jails! |
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Night at the
Squirrel Cage Jail
Old Pottawattamie County Jail
226 Pearl Street, Council Bluffs, Iowa
September 14, 2013 -- 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM
Built in1885, the old
Pottawattamie County Jail is one of the most unusual houses of
incarceration in America -- and according to many, one of the
most actively haunted! The jail has a three-tier cell block with
ten cells on each tier. It was originally designed to rotate
continuously throughout the night by means of a water wheel in
the basement, earning it the nickname of the "squirrel cage
jail". In this way, all of the prisoners could be watched from a
central location. Unfortunately, the 45-ton cell block was
simply too heavy to work right and it became stuck frequently.
Eventually, the jailers gave up on the plan and a night guard
had to be hired. The cylinder continued to be used until 1960,
when a prisoner died in his cell and the cell block jammed,
trapping the body in the cell for several days. After that, cell
doors were cut into every cell.
The jail was closed down in 1969 and during its history, four
deaths occurred within its walls. One man died of a heart
attack, another in a fall when he tried to write his name on the
ceiling, another hanged himself in his cell, and the last after
an accident when an officer accidentally shot himself in the
confusion of protecting the jail from an angry mob during the
Farmer's Holiday Strike of 1932. It's no surprise that these
unlucky individuals -- along with others -- are believe to still
linger at the old jail. |
There have been many
reports of ghosts and strange happenings at the jail, dating
back to the days when it was still in operation. Bill Foster,
who worked at the jail in the 1950s, was allowed to use the
fourth-floor apartment as his residence but chose not to
"because of the strange goings-on up there." He claimed to hear
people walking around on a floor that had no one on it and chose
to reside on the second floor instead. Strange noises, lights
turning on and off and ghostly footsteps are common, as are
sightings of apparitions believed to be former jailers, workers
and prisoners. Feelings of being watched and being followed
often plague those who are brave enough to spend the night
here.... Are you one of them?
Join American Hauntings and guides Steven and Amber Tracy for a
night that you won't soon forget -- a search for the spirits of
the Old Squirrel Cage Jail! Spend the entire night
looking for the ghosts of this historic -- and very haunted --
old jail with a limited number of ghost hunters during a private ghost hunt. Find out if the place is really as haunted as so many
people claim and perhaps come face to face with one of the
former occupants of the place! The evening will include a
historic tour of the jail, followed by an all-night ghost
hunt at a place that has been called one of the most haunted
places in Iowa. The night begins at 8:00 p.m. and continues until sunrise -- or until the
last guests go screaming from the jail!
$50 per Person for this PRIVATE American Hauntings Event! |
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